LIBRARY 

UjNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


The  Presidents  I   Have  Known 
from  1860-1918 


By  SIMON  WOLF 


AUTHOR  OF 


"The  American  Jew  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and  Citizen" 


SECOND  EDITION 


PRESS  or 

BYRON  S.  ADAMS 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


COPYRIGHT 

1918 
BY  SIMON  WOLF 


GENERAL  INDEX. 

Title    i 

Dedication    v 

Foreword vii 

Author's  Preface xi 

Buchanan 1 

Lincoln 4 

Johnson    50 

Grant 63 

Hayes  99 

Garfield    109 

Arthur   132 

Cleveland 136 

Harrison    154 

McKinley    167 

Roosevelt    184 

Taf  t    292 

Wilson 403 

Humorous  Incidents   447 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Simon  Wolf    Frontispiece 

James    Buchanan    1 

Abraham  Lincoln 4 

Andrew   Johnson    50 

Ulysses  S.  Grant   63 

Statue  of  Religious  Liberty 89 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes  99 

James  A.  Garfteld* 109 

Tewfik   Pacha    114 

Arabi   Pacha    125 

At  the  Temple  of  Luxor 130 

Chester  A.  Arthur 132 

Grover  Cleveland   136 

Benjamin  Harrison   154 

William  McKinley 167 

Laying  Corner-stone  of  Jewish  Temple 181 

Theodore  Roosevelt  184 

Leo  N.  Levi  208 

John  Hay  223 

William  Howard  Taft 292 

Presentation  of  Gold  Medal  to  President  Taft 

James  Bryce    

Wendell  P.  Stafford   338 

Joseph  G.  Cannon   342 

Charles  H.  Lauchheimer    

Julius  Stahel   394> 

Woodrow  Wilson   403 

Josephus  Daniels   406 

I.  O.  B.  B.  Hebrew  Orphans'  Home 412 


LIST  OF  DOCUMENTS,  ADDRESSES  AND  LETTERS. 

Page 

Address  on  Lincoln's  Birthday  (1888) 23 

Letter  to  New   York   Evening  Post   "Defence   of  the  Jewish 

Race;  Prejudice  Rebuked"   (November,  1864) 35 

Evening  Post  Editorial  Comment   (1864) 43 

"Washington   Chronicle"    (1864)    44 

Letters  from  Ida  M.  Tarbell  (1903  and  1916) 48 

Letters  from  Carl  Schurz  (1906) 49 

Letter   from  John   Hay    (1906) 49 

Letters  from  General  Badeau  about  Grant's  Order  No.  11 65-66 

Letter  to  the  Boston  "Transcript"  on  "The  Jews  and  General 

Grant"    (1868)     67 

Vice-President  Coif  ax  Letter  (1870)    (Roumania) 76 

Hamilton  Fish  Letter  ( 1872)    (Roumania) 77 

Correspondence    with    President    Grant    regarding    Statue    of 

Religious  Liberty    (1876)    89-90 

General  Grant  on  lecture  "The  Influence  of  the  Jews" 92 

General  Beale  on  lecture  "The  Influence  of  the  Jews"  (1888) . .         93 
Correspondence    with     President    Grant    on     his     retirement 

(1877)     96-97 

Letter  to  President  Hayes    (1878) 103 

Letter   from   General    Sherman    (1878) 107 

Letter  from  Chief  Rabbi  Herman  Adler 113 

Tribute   to   President   Garfield    117 

Extract  from  Address  on  Atonement  Day  (1893) 138 

Letters  from  President  Cleveland    (1893  and   1895) 139 

New  York  Sun  Review  of  "American  Jew  as  Patriot,  Soldier, 

and  Citizen"   146 

Letter  from  John  Bigelow    (1905) 147 

Letter  from  James  Bryce   (1907) 148 

Letters  from  Mark  Twain  (1899) 149 

Correspondence    with    Grover    Cleveland 152-153 

President  Harrison  on  Russian  Jewish  Expulsions    (1890  and 

1891)     156 

Correspondence  with  Secretary  Charles  Foster  regarding  Right 

of  Asylum  for  Russian  Jews  in  America  (1891) 158-162 

Letter  from  John  Sherman   (1893) 162 

Tribute  to  Gen.  Franz  Sigel 163 

Letters  from  President  McKinley  (1896  and  1898), 

170-171,  173,  174,  179 
Letter  from  Assistant  Secretary  Adee  regarding  the  I.  O.  B.  B. 

in   Russia    171 

Flag  Day  Addresses    (1901)    175-176 

Letters  from  President  Palma  and  Gonzales  de  Quesada  (1903)       177 

Tribute  to  President  McKinley    (1901) 181 

Letters  from  President  Roosevelt  and  Secretary  Hay  regarding 

the  Hay  Roumanian  Note 185-187 

Correspondence    with    State    Department    regarding    Kishineff 

Massacre    (1903)     187-190 


LIST  OF  DOCUMENTS,  ADDRESSES  AND  LETTERS. 

Page 
Secretary  Hay  on  proposed  Kishineff  Massacre  Petition  (June 

15,    1903) .....191-193 

President  Roosevelt  on  proposed  Kishineff  Massacre  Petition 

(June  15,  1903) 193-198 

Letter  from  Secretary   Hay  on   proposed   Kishineff  Massacre 

Petition  (June  24,  1903) 199 

Letter  to  Leo  N.  Levi  on  proposed  Kishineff  Massacre  Petition      200 
Letter  to  President  Roosevelt  on  proposed  Kishineff  Massacre 

Petition    (July   2,    1903) 201 

Conference    with    President   Roosevelt   on   proposed   Kishineff 

Massacre  Petition  (July  14,  1903) 202-209 

Letter    from   Secretary   Hay   announcing  Russian   Refusal  to 

accept  the  Petition  (July  17,  1903) 209 

Correspondence  between  Leo  N.  Levi  and  Secretary  Hay  re 
garding  presentation  of  Kishineff  Petition  to  State  De 
partment  (October,  1903)  212-215 

Letter  to  Count  Cassini   216 

Address  on  Russian  Intolerance   (January,  1903) 219 

Tribute  to  John  Hay  (July  6,  1905) 221,  223 

Letter  to  Count  Witte  and  answer  (August  3,  1905) 230-234 

Symposium  as   to  Governmental  Classification   of  Jews   as   a 

Race    (1903)     239-258 

T.   V.    Powderly  on    Statistics   regarding  Jewish   Immigrants 

(1899)     259 

Letter  to  President  Roosevelt  on  the  Passport  Question  (1903) 

and    Conference    264-266 

Letter  from  President  Roosevelt  to  Secretary  Moody  (1903)..       267 

Tribute  to  Pope  Leo   (1903) 268 

Correspondence  with  President  Roosevelt  (1904  and  1908), 

269-270,  282-285,  287-289 

Parallel  between  Lincoln  and  Roosevelt 270-273 

Tribute    to    Booker    Washington    and    President    Roosevelt's 

comment    thereon     273-275 

Letter   opposing   Religious    Insruction   in   the   Public   Schools 

(1905)     275 

Letter  from  Theodore  Roosevelt  ( 1916) 291 

Conference  with  President  Taft  regarding  Abrogation  of  Rus 
sian    Treaty,    Mr.    Taft's    Memorandum    and    remarks   by 
Jacob  H.  Schiff  and  Louis  Marshall  (February  15,  1911.  .293-310 
Correspondence   between   Mr.    Schiff   and    President   Taft   re 
garding  the  Conference    (February,  1911) 310-315 

Letter  from  Secretary  Nagel  on  the  Conference  (February  25, 

1911)     316 

Senator  Cullom  on  Senate  Hearings  on  Russian  Treaty  Abro 
gation  

Secretary  Root  on  Russian  Intervention 319 

Correspondence  with  President  Taft  after  Russian  Treaty  Ab 
rogation  (December,  1911)  320 

Letter  from  Hon.  William  H.  Taft  regarding  John  Hays 
Hammond  and  the  Russian  Passport  Question  (November 

26,  1917)    321 

Correspondence   regarding  I.  O.  B.   B.   Presentation  of  Gold 

Medal  to  President  Taft   321-323 


LIST  OF  DOCUMENTS,  ADDRESSES  AND  LETTERS. 

Page 

Correspondence  with  Adolf  Kraus  and  President  Taft  regard 
ing  Russian  Attitude  to  the  Jews  (November,  1912) ...  .323-328 
President    Taft's    Address    at    I.    O.    B.    B.    Banquet    (April, 

1910)     329-333 

Ambassador  Bryce's  Address  (Id.)    (The  Jew  in  History) .  .333-338 
Justice  Stafford's  Address  (Id.)    (Israel's  Ideal  of  Justice) .  .338-342 

Speaker  Cannon's  Address    (Id.) 342-346 

President   Taft's   Address   at   I.    O.    B.   B.   70th   Anniversary 

(January  19,  1913)  348-350 

I.  O.  B.  B.  Anniversary  Oration 356-364 

Correspondence  with  Secretary  Nagel  regarding  "White  Slave 

Traffic"  365-366 

Correspondence  with  Secretary  Nagel  regarding  alleged  harsh 

enforcement  of  Immigration  Laws  (October,  1911) 367-369 

Correspondence  with  Secretary  Nagel  on  75th  Anniversary  and 

Miscellaneous  correspondence  369-370 

Correspondence  with  President  Taft  and  Secretary  Nagel  on 

Veto  of  Illiteracy  Test  (February,  1913) 380-382 

The  Bloom  Incident,  including  correspondence  with  President 

Taft,     and    Secretary    Dickinson's     report     (March-May, 

1911)     382-390 

Address  on  Haym  Solomon 391-393 

Miscellaneous  Correspondence  with  President  Taft.. 394,  398,  401-402 

Tribute  to  Gen.  Julius  Stahel 394-397 

Tribute  to  President  Taft,  the  Man  (March  2,  1913) 399 

Correspondence  with   President   Wilson 403-404,  411^112 

Address  of  Secretary  Daniels  at  I.  O.  B.  B.  Banquet 406-409 

Correspondence    regarding    our    Relations    to    Russia    (1913- 

1914)     409-411 

Correspondence  with  President  Wilson  on  Veto  of  Illiteracy 

Test    415-416 

Article   by   Max  J.   Kohler   on   "Rights   of   Political    Asylum 

Threatened"     417 

Correspondence    with    President    Wilson    regarding    securing 

Jewish  Rights  at  the  Peace  Conference 422-424 

Correspondence  with  President  Wilson  regarding  proposed  new 

Russian  Treaty    424-425,  436-437 

H.  G.  Hodges  on  Intervention  in  the  Interest  of  Persecuted 

Jews     425-427 

Letters  from  Wm.  J.  Bryan,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Wm.  H.  Taft, 

Charles  Nagel  and  Mabel  T.  Boardman,   regarding  I.  O. 

B.  B.  Quinquennial  Convention   (April,  1915) 428-431 

Correspondence  with  President  Wilson  and  State  Department 

regarding  Jewish  Sufferings  in  the  War 431^*35 

Article  "There,  is  no  Jewish  Vote"    437-439 

Correspondence  with  Secretary  Lansing 435,  439,  442 

Correspondence  with  Secretary  Wilson 439-440 

Miscellaneous  Correspondence  with  President  Wilson, 

441,  443,  444-445 
Poem  by  T.  V.  Powderly  to  Simon  Wolf  on  his  80th  Birthday. .       443 


DEDICATION. 

To  the  memory  of  my  dear  and  sainted  mother, 
whose  inspiring  optimism  and  constant  teaching  of 
the  Golden  Rule  gave  impulse  and  direction  to  my 
course  of  life,  this  book  is  affectionately  dedicated. 

By  the  Author. 


Foreword  by 
Mr.  Justice  Wendell  Phillips  Stafford 

of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia 

The  only  foreword  that  seems  to  be  appropriate  is 
a  word  of  congratulation  to  those  into  whose  hands 
this  book  may  fall.  No  introduction  is  necessary,  to 
the  book  itself,  for  wherever  it  is  opened  it  will  make 
itself  charmingly  familiar.  No  introduction  of  the 
author  can  be  needed,  because  he  is  his  own  intro 
ducer,  introducing  both  himself  and  others,  and  no 
one  else  could  do  it  better.  You  have  only  to  accept 
the  offered  hand  and  go  with  him  on  his  interesting 
way. 

You  will  find  here  a  large  company  of  distin- 
tinguished  people  aside  from  the  Presidents  them 
selves,  whom  you  are  especially  invited  to  meet. 
You  will  find  yourself  refreshing  your  recollection 
of  a  great  period  in  American  history.  You  will  get 
many  glimpses  of  what  was  going  on  behind  the 
scenes  in  Washington.  You  will  listen  to  delightful 
stories.  You  will  be  touched  by  pathetic  incidents. 
You  will  be  moved  to  laughter  and  perhaps  to  tears. 
You  will  see  the  anxious  face  of  Buchanan,  the  hag 
gard,  far-away  look  of  Lincoln,  the  narrow  self- 
willed  expression  of  Johnson,  the  imperturbable  de 
meanor  of  Grant,  the  gracious  personality  of  Hayes, 
the  large,  magnetic  presence  of  Garfield,  the  courtly 
bearing  of  Arthur,  the  indomitable  figure  of  Cleve 
land,  the  cold  self-possession  of  Harrison,  the  win 
ning  smile  of  McKinley,  the  restless  and  virile  move 
ments  of  Roosevelt,  the  massive  form  and  bland 


good-fellowship  of  Taft,  and  accomplished  ease  and 
dignity  of  Wilson.  You  will  find  yourself  present  at 
many  interesting  meetings,  where  your  presence  will 
not  hinder  the  free  disclosure  of  personal  traits  in 
these  and  other  noted  characters  of  the  time,  and  as 
you  move  through  the  changing  scenes,  you  will 
come  to  have  a  warm  admiration  for  your  conductor 
— so  witty,  so  full  of  intelligence  and  kindly  human 
interest,  so  frank  and  engaging  in  his  revelation  of 
himself  and  his  activities,  so  devoted  to  the  welfare 
of  his  people,  so  indefatigable  in  his  efforts,  so  elo 
quent  in  his  appeals,  so  broad  in  his  sympathies,  so 
unqualifiedly  American  in  all  he  does  and  says. 
Born  in  a  little  town  in  Bavaria,  feeling  the  heel  of 
the  oppressor  in  his  youth,  coming  to  this  country 
while  yet  a  boy,  "clerking  it"  in  a  country  store, 
studying  law  and  securing  admission  to  the  bar, 
coming  to  Washington  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil 
War  and  entering  at  once  upon  the  public  spirited 
and  benevolent  tasks  which  have  occupied  his  days 
from  then  till  now,  winning  the  confidence  of  lead 
ing  men,  broadening  and  strengthening  his  influence, 
using  all  he  gained  for  the  service  of  his  less  fortu 
nate  fellows,  making  himself  a  new  sort  of  tribune 
of  the  helpless  and  needy  in  the  departments  of 
power,  filling  important  positions  at  home  and 
abroad,  enlarging  the  circle  of  his  friends  till  they 
include  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  and  becom 
ing  in  his  own  way  the  typical  man  of  his  race  in 
this  country,  he  has  been  nothing  more  truly  or  more 
completely  than  this — a  fearless,  honest,  uncompro 
mising  defender  of  free  principles,  a  loyal  and 
patriotic  American. 

That,  I  am  sure,  is  what  he  would  be  willing  I 


should  say  in  attempting  to  describe  him.  He  passed 
his  seventieth  birthday  amid  grateful  acclamations. 
He  has  now  passed  his  eightieth  with  still  increasing 
praise,  and  he  is  doing  well  to  give  us  in  these  pages 
a  record,  incomplete  though  it  must  be,  of  the  strik 
ing  events  of  which  he  has  been  a  part,  with  faithful 
portraits  of  the  eminent  personages  he  has  known. 
The  lesson  taught  by  this  volume  will  not  be  over 
looked  at  a  time  when  some  are  skeptical  enough  to 
doubt  the  loyalty  of  large  numbers  of  their  fellow 
citizens  born  under  other  skies,  many  of  whom  are 
perhaps  more  capable  than  we  ourselves  of  measur 
ing  the  wide  gulf  between  free  and  despotic  institu 
tions,  and  who  are  no  less  determined  than  we  that 
"government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for 
the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 


AUTHORS  PREFACE 

In  the  evening  of  a  busy  life,  now  prolonged  much 
beyond  the  span  allotted  by  the  Psalmist,  my  mem 
ory  reverts  at  times  to  those  events  and  incidents  in 
my  experience  of  the  past  sixty  years  which  are 
related,  more  or  less  directly,  to  affairs  of  national 
and  international  importance,  and  in  which  it  fell 
to  my  lot  to  be  an  active  participant. 

Especially  marked  among  these  recollections  are 
those  of  the  Roumanian  Mission;  the  famous  Kis- 
hineff  petition ;  the  preventing  of  more  than  one  hun 
dred  thousand  worthy  immigrants  from  being  de 
ported,  and  the  continued  struggle  against  the  en 
actment  of  the  literacy  test  for  immigration  which 
ended,  for  the  time  being,  in  the  passage  of  that 
absurd  piece  of  legislation  over  its  third  presidential 
veto  in  February,  1917;  the  Statue  of  Religious  Lib 
erty  erected  in  Fairmount  Park,  Philadelphia,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai 
B'rith;  the  many  years  of  agitation  for  the  valida 
tion  of  the  passports  of  American  Jews  in  Russia, 
which  culminated  in  the  abrogation  of  our  discred 
ited  treaty  with  the  Gzardom  in  1912;  the  malicious 
slurs  on  the  Jewish  people  as  having  shown  a  lack 
of  patriotism  and  courage  during  our  Civil  War,  set 
in  circulation  from  time  to  time  after  its  close,  which 
impelled  me  to  the  publication  of  my  book,  The 
American  Jew  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and  Citizen,  in 
refutation  of  that  calumny  in  1895,  and  various  other 
episodes  of  a  like  nature. 

Most  of  these  movements  naturallv  centered  at  the 


national  capital,  Washington,  where,  as  my  home 
city  throughout  all  these  years,  I  had  the  honor,  as 
officer  or  member  of  various  national  and  interna 
tional  organizations,  of  representing  these  bodies  and 
thus,  in  a  sense,  the  Jewish  people  especially,  before 
the  several  departments  of  the  national  government 
as  occasion  required.  So  it  was  that  I  came  to  know 
the  successive  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  from 
the  great  martyr  President,  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  the 
crucial  days  of  the  great  war  to  make  America  safe 
for  freedom,  to  the  present  chief  magistrate  of  the 
nation,  Woodrow  Wilson,  in  these  no  less  crucial 
days  of  the  yet  greater  war  to  make  the  world  safe 
for  democracy. 

In  the  year  1916  at  the  request  of  some  of  my 
friends,  I  jotted  down  a  series  of  these  recollections 
and  they  were  published  during  that  year,  and  in 
1917  in  the  American  Hebrew,  New  York,  under  the 
title  "Presidents  I  Have  Known."  Dealing  as  these 
narratives  did  with  various  subjects  of  historical 
importance,  they  appear  to  have  attracted  for  that 
reason  a  degree  of  attention  that  I  had  scarcely  an 
ticipated.  Recognizing  the  significance  of  this  aspect 
of  the  matter  I  have  gone  ahead,  quoting  authentic 
documents  where  these  were  to  the  purpose,  and 
rounded  out  my  earlier  recollections  with  those  of 
the  later  Presidents  whom  I  have  known.  Leaving 
these  memoirs  under  that  title  I  turn  them  over  to 
my  readers  in  the  hope  that,  however  cursory  my 
jottings,  they  may  yet  serve  to  throw  some  further 
light,  if  only  a  sidelight,  on  a  period  replete  with 
events  of  far  reaching  importance  to  the  world. 

SIMON  WOLF. 


JAMES  BUCHANAN 
1857-1861 


The  Presidents  I  Have  Known  from 
1860  to  1918 

JAMES  BUCHANAN 
\ 

For  many  years  I  have  been  urged  to  write  the 
reminiscences,  experiences  and  observations  incident 
to  my  knowledge  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United 
States,  from  the  days  of  Buchanan  up  to  the  present 
incumbent.  I  have  never  before  had  the  time  to  do 
full  justice  to  this  interesting  and  important  chapter 
of  American  history,  but  now  while  summering  at  a 
restful  place,  I  feel  the  impulse  to  attempt  in  a  re 
stricted  sense  what  has  been  so  urgently  requested 
by  many  friends. 

Residing  in  Ohio,  in  the  hotbed  of  politics,  it  was 
but  natural  that  I  should  become  more  or  less  identi 
fied  and  interested  in  one  or  the  other  party.  Like 
so  many  other  immigrants  who  were  coming  across 
the  seas,  when  arriving  as  a  lad  my  inclinations  were 
for  the  Democratic  party.  The  word  "Democracy" 
contained  something  inspiring  and  elevating.  Later 
years  disenchanted  me  from  that  first  opinion,  and 
thus  it  was  when  the  Democratic  convention  of  1860 
met  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  I  was  an  alternate  delegate 
and  witnessed  the  exciting  scenes  which  preceded 
the  Rebellion.  Indeed  all  that  was  said  and  done 
there  was  but  a  chapter  in  that  tragedy  which  fortu 
nately  ended  in  the  Union  being  stronger  than  ever. 

I  remember  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  a  delegate  from 
the  State  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  a  half  vote,  cast 
it  fifty-seven  times  for  Jefferson  Davis.  It  was  a 
notable  event  and  made  a  deep  impression.  And  yet 
this  same  Benj.  F.  Butler  when  the  war  broke  out  be- 


2  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

came  a  Union  general  and  was  one  of  the  most  deter 
mined  to  bring  his  former  choice  to  condign  punish 
ment.  As  is  well  known,  that  convention  adjourned 
to  meet  again  in  the  City  of  Baltimore,  and  I  also 
witnessed  the  memorable  scenes  there  enacted.  The 
Ohio  delegates,  consisting  of  men  who  afterward 
became  national  figures,  such  as  Henry  B.  Payne, 
George  H.  Pendleton,  General  James  B.  Steedman 
and  others,  were  stanch  Douglas  adherents,  while 
Thomas  W.  Bartley,  brother-in-law  of  the  Shermans 
and  Ewings,  was  a  pronounced  pro-slavery  Democrat, 
and  so  bitter  and  acrimonious  became  the  arguments 
in  the  delegation  that  Bartley  was  finally  ejected 
from  the  room  as  a  traitor,  not  only  to  the  Demo 
cratic  party  of  Ohio  but  to  the  country.  It  was  a 
scene  almost  tragic  as  Bartley  walked  out  with  bowed 
head  and  yet  determined  in  his  opposition  to  Douglas. 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  go  into  the  historic  character 
of  those  days,  but  while  in  Baltimore  some  friends 
suggested  that  we  go  to  Washington  and  pay  our 
respects  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  James 
Buchanan.  We  were  admitted,  and  the  careworn 
face,  deep  sunken  eyes  and  furrowed  cheeks  of  the 
President,  I  shall  never  forget.  He  greeted  each  and 
every  one  of  us  most  cordially,  and  when  I  told  him 
I  was  of  German-Jewish  extraction,  his  face  lighted 
up  for  a  moment  and  he  said  that  was  a  good  stock 
in  both  directions,  and  he  had  a  great  admiration 
for  Germany  and  what  it  had  accomplished  and  he 
also  looked  upon  the  Jewish  people  as  a  superior 
class  of  American  citizens.  I  never  did  believe  that 
James  Buchanan  was  a  traitor  or  not  sincerely  de 
voted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Union.  His  mis 
fortune  was  that  he  was  educated  and  schooled  in 


JAMES   BUCHANAN  3 

conservatism;  he  was  wedded  to  states  rights  and  to 
ante-bellum  ideas  and  lacked  the  knowledge  of  the 
gravity  of  the  situation  and  the  evolution  that  had 
been  caused  by  anti-slavery  agitation  and  the  publi 
cation  of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 

During  this  same  visit  to  Washington,  I  also  called 
on  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  for  whom  I  entertained  great 
respect  as  a  leader  of  progressive  democratic  thought, 
and  I  am  happy  to  know  that  when  the  Civil  War 
did  come  he  threw  aside  partisanship  and  rose  to 
the  very  heights  of  American  patriotism,  giving  loyal 
support  to  his  opponent,  Abraham  Lincoln.  When  I 
saw  Mr.  Douglas  and  told  him  he  had  two  sincere, 
warm  admirers  in  Henry  Greenebaum  of  Chicago 
and  myself,  he  facetiously  remarked,  "That  is  a  good 
set-off  for  Judah  P.  Benjamin." 

The  Civil  War  with  all  its  consequences,  came  and 
terminated,  leaving  the  country  more  closely  united 
than  ever,  and  bringing  within  the  fold  of  American 
citizenship  four  millions  who  by  one  stroke  of  the 
President's  pen  were  emancipated  and  raised  from 
the  depths  of  degradation  to  the  heights  of  American 
opportunity.  Those  were  solemn  days;  men  and 
women  were  assertive  and  active  in  their  various 
vocations  of  life  and  every  moment  was  filled  with 
danger  and  hope.  There  was  a  strong  band  of  men 
and  women  who  in  the  darkest  hour  of  that  great 
struggle  never  yielded  for  a  moment,  but  rose  each 
day  more  hopeful  until  all  their  highest  ambitions 
and  aspirations  were  finally  realized,  as  they  will 
again  be  realized  in  our  present  great  struggle. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

He  knew  to  bide  his  time, 

And  can  his  fame  abide, 
Still  patient  in  his  faith  sublime, 

Till  the  wise  years  decide. 
Great  captains  with  their  guns  and  drums, 

Disturb  our  judgment  of  the  hour, 
But  at  last  Silence  comes; 

These  are  all  gone,  and,  standing  like  a  tower, 
Our  children  shall  behold  his  fame, 

The  kindly-earnest,  brave,  foreseeing  man, 
Sagacious,  patient,  dreading  praise,  not  blame, 

New  birth  of  our  new  soil,  the  first  American. 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  go  into  an  historical  resume 
of  all  which  Abraham  Lincoln  accomplished.  That 
has  been  done  by  numerous  historians  and  biograph 
ers.  I  can  only  give  a  pen  picture  of  that  which  I 
experienced  and  observed.  In  July,  1858,  while  I  was 
visiting  in  Chicago,  Abraham  Lincoln  delivered  an 
address  on  the  law  of  equal  freedom,  and  although 
Mr.  Greenebaum  and  I  were  admirers  of  the  "Little 
Giant  of  the  West,"  Stephen  Douglas,  yet  like  all  fair- 
minded  people  should  ever  be,  we  were  open  to  con 
viction  and  concluded  to  hear  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  was 
the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  the  Great  Emancipator, 
and  the  impression  made  was  one  that  has  never 
been  obliterated  from  my  memory.  Tall,  gaunt, 
with  his  clothes  hanging  loosely,  solemnity  about  his 
features,  his  eyes  beaming  with  an  intensity  born  of 
conviction,  he  looked  to  me  then,  as  he  did  many 
times  afterwards,  the  personification  of  realism, 
strength  of  thought  and  purpose.  We  went  away 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

1861-1865 
(Taken  one  week  prior  to  death) 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  5 

from  that  hall  more  patriotic  than  when  we  entered 
it,  and  while  our  political  convictions  had  not  been 
changed  by  anything  Mr.  Lincoln  had  said,  our  love 
of  the  Republic  was  materially  increased.  I  will 
always  remember  with  what  enthusiasm  we  prog 
nosticated  the  future  greatness  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a 
statesman  and  an  American.  Mr.  Lincoln  stands 
before  me  today,  as  he  did  the  day  when  I  first  had 
the  honor  and  privilege  of  hearing  him. 

I  have  on  several  occasions  given  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  soldier  whom  he  pardoned  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  early  morning.  While  seated  in  my  office  prior 
to  going  to  my  home,  I  received  a  telegram  from  a 
town  in  New  England  asking  me  to  wait  for  a  letter 
that  was  coming  by  express.  The  letter  came,  and 
it  stated  that  a  young  soldier,  American  born,  of 
Jewish  faith,  had  been  condemned  to  be  shot  and  the 
execution  was  to  take  place  the  next  morning.  It 
was  in  the  crucial  days  of  the  war  when  every  soldier 
was  needed  at  the  front  and  when  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Secretary  of  War,  had  threatened  to  resign  unless 
the  President  would  stop  pardoning  deserters.  It 
seemed  this  soldier  could  not  get  a  furlough.  His 
mother,  who  was  on  her  death  bed,  had  begged  for 
his  return,  to  lay  her  hands  lovingly  on  his  head  and 
give  him  a  parting  blessing.  The  filial  love  was  supe 
rior  to  his  duty  to  the  flag,  and  he  went  home,  was 
arrested,  tried  and  condemned  to  be  shot.  For  a  mo 
ment  I  was  dazed  and  uncertain  as  to  the  course  to 
be  pursued.  Night  came  on  apace,  and  finally  I  con 
cluded  to  call  on  the  Hon.  Thomas  Corwin  of  Ohio, 
who  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the  President.  Mr. 
Corwin,  as  ever,  was  most  gracious,  but  said,  "My 
dear  Mr.  Wolf,  it  is  impossible  to  do  anything  in  this 


6  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

direction.  The  President  has  heen  maligned  for  be 
ing  too  generous  and  liberal  in  this  respect."  But  I 
begged  so  hard  that  finally  Corvvin  sent  word  over 
to  the  White  House,  inquiring  whether  an  interview 
could  be  secured.  The  word  came  back,  "Later  in 
the  night,"  and  it  was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning 
before  we  reached  the  President. 

The  whole  scene  is  as  vividly  before  me  as  in  those 
early  hours  of  the  morning.  The  President  walked 
up  and  down  with  his  hands  hanging  by  his  side,  his 
face  wore  that  gravity  of  expression  that  has  been  so 
often  described  by  his  historians  and  biographers,  and 
yet  he  greeted  us  as  if  we  were  his  boon  companions 
and  were  indulging  in  an  interchange  of  anecdotes, 
of  which  he  was  a  past  master.  Corwin  told  him  why 
we  had  come.  He  listened  with  deep  attention,  and 
when  Corwin  had  exhausted  the  subject  the  President 
replied,  "Impossible  to  do  anything.  I  have  no  influ 
ence  with  this  administration,"  and  the  twinkle  in 
his  eye  was  indescribable :  "Stanton  has  put  his  foot 
down  and  insists  upon  one  of  two  things,  either  that 
I  must  quit  or  he  will  quit."  Corwin  turned  to  me 
and  said.  "I  told  you,  my  dear  friend,  that  it  was 
hopeless,"  and  was  about  leaving  the  room.  I  said, 
"Mr.  President,  you  will  pardon  me  for  a  moment. 
What  would  you  have  done  under  similar  circum 
stances?  If  your  dying  mother  had  summoned  you 
to  her  bedside  to  receive  her  last  message  before  her 
soul  would  be  summoned  to  its  Maker,  would  you 
have  been  a  deserter  to  her  who  gave  you  birth, 
rather  than  deserter  in  law  but  not  in  fact  to  the 
flag  to  which  you  had  sworn  allegiance?"  He 
stopped,  touched  the  bell;  his  secretary,  John  Hay, 
who  time  and  again  spoke  of  that  occurrence,  came 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  7 

in;  he  ordered  a  telegram  to  be  sent  to  stop  the  exe 
cution,  and  that  American  citizen  of  Jewish  faith  led 
the  forlorn  hope  with  the  flag  of  his  country  in  his 
hands  at  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor  and  was  shot  to 
death  fighting  heroically  and  patriotically  for  the 
country  of  his  birth.  When  months  afterward  I  told 
the  President  what  had  become  of  that  young  soldier, 
he  was  visibly  moved  and  with  great  emotion  said,  "I 
thank  God  for  having  done  what  I  did."  It  was  an 
impressive  scene,  one  full  of  pathos  and  sublime 
humanity,  and  is  engraved  on  the  tablets  of  memory 
as  no  other  incident  of  my  whole  life. 

Another  incident  purely  social  and  yet  full  of  wit 
and  humor  was  when  a  committee  of  the  Washington 
Literary  and  Dramatic  Association,  of  which  I  was 
president  at  the  time,  invited  President  Lincoln  to  be 
present  at  the  300th  anniversary  of  Shakespeare's 
birth.  It  was  at  Carusi's  Theatre  that  the  entertain 
ment  was  to  take  place,  and  by  the  way,  the  Wash 
ington  Literary  and  Dramatic  Association  was  the 
only  one  that  celebrated  the  300th  anniversary.  We 
had  invited  the  English  Minister,  Lord  Lyons,  Secre 
tary  Seward  and  President  Lincoln.  Lord  Lyons 
and  his  Secretary  of  Legation,  Sir  Edward  Malet, 
who  became  my  colleague  as  Consul  General  in 
Egypt  in  '81,  and  Mr.  Seward  were  present.  The 
President,  on  account  of  pressure  of  business,  was 
unable  to  be  with  us.  But  when  we  invited  him,  he 
said,  "Well,  boys,  what  among  other  things  are  you 
going  to  play?"  We  told  him  "Hamlet."  He  in 
stantly  responded,  "Why  would  I  not  make  a  splen 
did  grave  digger,  for  am  I  not  quoted  as  a  fellow  of 
infinite  jest  and  humor,  and  is  not  my  present  life 
typical  of  that  vocation?" 


8  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

The  day  after  he  had  signed  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  in  company  with  the  Hon.  John  A. 
Bingham,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio,  who 
afterwards  was  the  prosecuting  attorney  in  the  trial 
of  the  conspirators  for  the  assassination  of  the  Presi 
dent,  we  called  at  the  White  House,  and  it  gave  me 
pleasure,  and  indeed  it  was  a  privilege,  to  congratu 
late  the  President  upon  that  momentous  act  which 
freed  four  millions  of  black  men.  His  reply  was 
terse  and  logical:  "It  was  not  only  the  negro  that 
I  freed,  but  the  white  man  no  less,"  which  anyone 
conversant  with  history  and  what  has  since  trans 
pired  in  the  southern  portion  of  our  country  must 
concede  is  absolutely  correct. 

Another  memorable  scene  was  when  James  E. 
Murdock,  the  great  actor,  read  "The  Wild  Wagoner 
of  the  Alleghanies,"  written  by  Thomas  Buchanan 
Read,  the  Ohio  poet,  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  the 
United  States.  When  Murdock  came  to  the  passage 
describing  how  the  saviour  of  the  nation  would  come 
from  the  far  west,  the  side  door  of  the  Senate  Cham 
ber  opened  and  there  stood  Abraham  Lincoln.  It 
had  not  been  prearranged,  but  it  was  one  of  those 
psychological  moments  that  occur  so  often  in  the  life 
of  an  individual  as  well  as  of  a  nation. 

One  day  the  Associated  Press  brought  a  telegram 
signed  by  Benj.  F.  Butler,  who  commanded  at  For 
tress  Monroe,  stating  that  his  troops  had  captured  150 
rebels,  90  mules,  60  contrabands  and  four  Jews.  It 
was  so  entirely  un-American  (and  uncalled  for  to 
associate  American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith  in  a  man 
ner  that  was  discreditable)  that  I  called  on  the  Presi 
dent,  and  for  a  moment  he  enjoyed  what  he  called 
the  joke,  but  when  I  brought  to  his  attention  the  slur 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  9 

and  unjustifiable  insinuation,  he  agreed  with  me  and 
gave  me  a  pass  to  go  to  Fortress  Monroe.  General 
Butler  received  me  with  cordiality,  invited  me  to 
dinner,  and  we  had  a  pleasant  talk.  He,  like  so 
many  other  generals  who  have  made  mistakes, 
claimed  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  message,  that  it 
had  been  sent  by  a  subordinate  and  that  he  would 
have  the  error  corrected  at  once,  regretting  the  inci 
dent  and  assuring  me  of  his  warm  friendship,  not 
only  personally  but  for  those  whom  I  represented, 
and  I  must  say  that  his  promise  in  this  direction  was 
made  good  afterwards. 

Time  and  again  I  saw  President  Lincoln  riding  out 
to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  his  summer  residence,  sur 
rounded  by  a  guard,  his  face  bearing  that  same  far 
away  look  that  characterized  his  many  days  of  care 
and  suffering  at  the  White  House. 

When  I  arrived  in  Washington  in  June,  1862,  I 
bore  with  me  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  Secre 
tary  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  written  by  his  former  part 
ner,  Colonel  George  W.  McCook  of  Steubenville, 
Ohio.  After  reading  the  letter,  the  Secretary,  looking 
over  his  glasses  with  a  look  as  determined  as  all  of 
his  acts  were,  said  to  me,  "Young  man,  if  what  Colo 
nel  McCook  says  is  true,  you  have  no  business  in  the 
Department;  get  outside;  and  if  it  isn't  true,  I  have 
no  use  for  imbeciles."  I  took  his  advice,  and  have 
been  thankful  ever  since. 

During  the  heat  of  the  war,  quite  a  number  of 
Southern  refugees  were  trying  to  pass  through 
Washington  to  their  Northern  friends.  They  were 
promptly  arrested  and  imprisoned.  They  sent  for 
me  as  their  attorney  to  secure  their  release.  One 
day  while  I  was  in  Philadelphia  a  detective  came 


10  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

and  said  to  me  that  I  was  under  arrest  and  was  to  be 
taken  to  Washington.  I  was  brought  before  Colonel 
Baker,  the  Chief  of  the  Detective  Corps,  whose  office 
was  opposite  the  Willard  Hotel.  Captain  William  P. 
Wood,  the  keeper  of  the  prison,  was  in  the  room  at 
the  time.  Baker  in  a  very  brusk  tone  said  he  would 
send  me  to  the  Capitol  prison  as  a  traitor;  that  I 
was  not  true  to  the  Union,  and  that  I  was  helping 
the  enemy  to  escape.  Before  I  could  make  any  re 
ply,  Captain  Wood  said,  "That  is  not  true,  Colonel 
Baker.  I  know  Mr.  Simon  Wolf;  he  is  as  loyal  and 
patriotic  a  citizen  as  lives,  and  he  has  the  right  as 
an  attorney  to  do  that  which  his  profession  imposes." 
Baker  said,  "Captain  Wood,  who  is  the  head  of  this 
Detective  Bureau?"  Wood  answered,  "You  are,  but 
there  is  someone  higher  than  you  to  whom  I  will  take 
Mr.  Wolf."  Baker  said,  "I  don't  care;  take  him  wher 
ever  you  want  to  go."  Wood  took  me  to  Secretary 
Stanton. 

Before  we  left  Baker,  and  during  the  discussion* 
he  said  to  me,  "You  belong  to  the  Order  of  B'nai 
B'rith,  a  disloyal  organization,  which  has  its  ramifi 
cations  in  the  South,  and  your  organization  is  help 
ing  the  traitors."  This  statement  I  indignantly 
denied,  and  told  Colonel  Baker  that  it  was  absurd 
on  its  face;  that  the  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith  was  edu 
cational  and  philanthropic,  and  its  members,  at  least 
in  the  North,  West  and  East,  were  as  true  to  the 
Union  as  any  other  portion  of  American  citizens. 

When  we  reached  Secretary  Stanton's  office,  Cap 
tain  Wood  explained  the  situation,  and  the  Secretary 
promptly  had  me  discharged,  stating  it  was  an  out 
rage  which  he  would  not  tolerate  for  a  moment.  He 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  11 

said,  "Mr.  Wolf,  you  have  done  your  duty  and  I  know 
that  you  are  a  loyal  citizen." 

After  the  surrender  of  General  Lee,  the  City  of 
Washington  was  illuminated  on  the  night  of  the 
twelfth  of  April,  1865,  and  the  citizens  en  masse  went 
to  the  White  House  where  the  President  was  being 
serenaded  and  where  an  address  from  him  was  ex 
pected.  In  passing  down  H  street,  between  Sixth  and 
Seventh,  I  noticed  that  one  house  was  dark  and  not 
illuminated.  It  turned  out  subsequently  to  have  been 
the  house  of  Mrs.  Surrat,  who  was  hung  as  one  of 
the  conspirators  in  the  plot  to  assassinate  the  Presi 
dent.  At  least  such  was  the  claim  at  the  time.  Per 
sonally  I  doubt  whether  outside  of  her  connivance  to 
capture  the  President,  she  was  a  party  to  any  assas 
sination.  But  excitement  ran  high  at  that  time  and 
reason  was  subordinate  to  passion.  There  was  an 
immense  aggregation  of  human  beings  in  front  of  the 
North  Portico  of  the  White  House,  and  the  President, 
in  response  to  tumultuous  applause  and  cheers,  made 
his  appearance.  It  was  an  eventful  sight,  one  that  I 
am  sure  has  never  been  forgotten  by  any  of  those 
who  were  present  and  are  still  living.  At  the  close  of 
his  remarks,  which  were  full  of  human  feeling,  pa 
triotic  fervor  and  the  inspiration  of  humanity,  indi 
cating  not  the  conqueror,  but  the  friend  and  saviour, 
the  band  struck  up  "Dixie,"  and  with  an  inimitable 
humor  characteristic  of  the  great  American,  he  said, 
"Yes,  and  we  have  captured  that." 

The  famous  order  No.  11,  ostensibly  issued  by  Gen 
eral  U.  S.  Grant  (and  which  was  afterward  disproven, 
as  I  will  show  in  my  article  on  President  Grant), 
which  excluded  Jews  as  a  class  from  the  army,  caused 
a  great  wave  of  indignation.  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise, 


12  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

of  Cincinnati,  took  up  the  matter  with  President  Lin 
coln;  he  in  turn  directed  General  Halleck  to  have  the 
order  rescinded.  In  the  Rebellion  Record,  published 
by  Act  of  Congress,  mention  is  made  of  the  order, 
and  a  copy  of  the  telegram  to  General  Grant  wherein 
it  is  stated  that  the  Jews  were  loyally  doing  their  duty 
as  soldiers,  sailors  and  citizens.  I  heartily  cooperated 
in  this  whole  affair  then  and  afterward. 

It  is  the  irony  of  fate  that  I  should  speak  in  my 
reminiscences  of  the  great  martyr  president,  the  great 
American,  the  emancipator,  the  loyal  citizen,  the  man 
of  immortal  fame  whose  classic  words  on  the  field  of 
Gettysburg  will  forever  be  the  slogan  for  men  of  all 
nations  to  repeat  in  behalf  "of  the  people,  by  the 
people  and  for  the  people." 

On  the  fourteenth  day  of  April,  1865,  I  had  fully 
contemplated  going  to  the  theatre  to  see  the  perform 
ance  of  "Our  American  Cousin,"  as  I  was  fond  of 
Sothern  as  Lord  Dundreary,  but  illness  in  my  family 
at  the  last  moment  prevented,  and  it  was  not  until 
the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  that  I  learned  of  the 
terrible  tragedy  that  had  been  enacted  the  night  be 
fore  by  the  madman,  John  Wilkes  Booth.  Let  me 
say  here  in  parenthesis  that  I  knew  Booth  well.  We 
had  played  on  the  amateur  stage  together  in  Cleve 
land,  Ohio,  and  I  had  met  him  that  very  morning  in 
front  of  the  Metropolitan  Hotel.  He  asked  me  to 
take  a  drink.  He  seemed  excited,  and  rather  than 
decline  and  incur  his  enmity  I  went  with  him.  It 
was  the  last  time  I  ever  saw  Booth.  He  had  just 
returned  from  the  National  Hotel,  where  he  had  been 
calling  on  the  daughter  of  a  Senator.  For  the  third 
time  he  had  offered  his  love  and  for  the  third  time 
she  had  declined.  What  would  have  been  the  con- 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  13 

sequence  had  she  accepted,  it  is  not  for  me  to  con 
jecture. 

I  had  living  at  my  house  at  the  time  John  H.  Collier 
of  Illinois,  who  for  a  few  months  was  my  partner. 
He  had  come  after  the  second  election  of  Lincoln, 
knowing  the  President  intimately,  to  practice  law, 
hoping  in  consequence  of  that  acquaintance  to  secure 
a  good  line  of  business.  I  had  gone  to  bed  early  on 
the  night  of  the  14th,  arose  early  on  the  morning  of 
the  15th,  walked  downstairs  and  found  the  vestibule 
door  open  and  the  gas  still  burning.  Knowing  the 
bibulous  characteristics  of  my  friend  Collier,  I  took 
it  for  granted  that  he  had  not  come  in,  or  possibly 
thought  that  I  was  still  out.  I  turned  the  gas  off 
and  walked  back  upstairs  to  his  room,  and  as  I 
turned  the  knob  it  turned  from  the  inside  and  we 
stood  face  to  face.  I  said,  "John,  you  didn't  shut  the 
door  and  turn  the  light  out."  He  said,  "No,  I  did 
not."  "What's  the  trouble?"  I  said,  and  he  replied, 
"My  God,  don't  you  know  what  happened?  Lincoln 
was  assassinated,  Seward  and  his  son  Frederick 
severely  wounded,  and  we  are  not  sure  but  what 
General  Grant  has  been  killed."  You  can  imagine 
the  horror  and  agony  of  the  moment.  We  walked 
downstairs  together  and  as  we  got  to  the  front  door 
the  bells  of  the  churches  tolled  the  death  knell  of  the 
Great  Martyr.  He  passed  away  at  7.22  in  the  morn 
ing,  surrounded  by  members  of  his  family  and  his 
cabinet  and  secretaries,  and  as  his  spirit  took  its 
flight,  Stanton  said,  "He  now  belongs  to  the  ages." 

A  curious  incident  connected  with  this  tragedy  was 
that  the  President  died  in  the  house  of  a  German 
tailor  named  Petersen,  who  was  a  rank  secessionist 
and  also  given  to  indulging  freely  in  spirits.  He  was 


14  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

taken  hold  of  by  the  soldiers  and  confined  in  the  base 
ment  of  the  house,  for  he  was  raving  mad  at  the  idea 
of  an  abolition  president  being  brought  to  his  house. 
The  building  was  afterward  purchased  by  an  attor 
ney  of  Washington,  who  subsequently  sold  the  house 
to  the  government,  and  it  is  now  the  Lincoln  Museum 
of  the  City  of  Washington. 

After  the  tragedy  I  was  compelled  to  remain  in  my 
house  until  after  Booth's  capture,  for  unfortunately  I 
resembled  him  very  much  in  feature.  So  much  so, 
that  Theodore  Kaufman,  the  historical  painter,  asked 
me  to  sit  for  him  for  his  famous  painting  of  "The 
Assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

The  morning  of  the  death  of  the  Great  Martyr  will 
ever  be  memorable.  It  was  as  in  the  case  of  Napo 
leon,  when  nature  seemed  to  be  all  in  convulsion,  he 
died.  So  in  this  instance  all  was  gloom  and  dark 
ness;  the  most  dismal  rain  and  plaintive  wind  howl 
ing  that  I  ever  experienced.  The  strength  of  the 
nation  was  then  and  there  made  manifest  by  its 
calmness  and  dignity,  although  completely  bowed 
down  and  prostrated  by  sorrow.  Friend  and  foe, 
men  who  had  fought  for  the  Union  and  those  who 
had  fought  for  secession,  vied  with  each  other  in 
acclaiming  the  man  who  had  brought  the  nation  out 
of  the  depth  of  danger  and  despair  and  who  was  not 
permitted  to  live  to  see  the  fruition  of  all  his  sacri 
fices  and  labor.  But  what  Lincoln  wrote  on  the 
pages  of  universal  history  lives  today  and  will  for 
ever  live  as  the  grandest  exposition  of  Republican 
and  Democratic  ideals  and  strength,  a  vindication  of 
character  in  the  man  who  though  lowly  born  rose  to 
the  topmost  round  of  the  ladder  to  bless  and  to  en- 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  15 

rich  and  to  enoble,  not  only  his  own  country,  but  all 
the  countries  of  the  world. 

O  Captain!     My  Captain,  rise  up  and  hear  the  bells 
Rise  up — for  you  the  flag  is  flung — for  you  the  bugle 

thrills; 
For  you  bouquets  and  ribboned  wreaths — for  you  the 

shores  acrowding; 
For  you  they  call,  the  swaying  mass,  their  eager 

faces  turning; 
Hear  Captain!  dear  Father! 
This  arm  beneath  your  head, 
It  is  some  dream  that  on  the  deck 
You've  fallen  cold  and  dead. 

WALT  WHITMAN. 

It  will  be  found  interesting  to  read  from  my  diary 
of  the  year  1865,  up  to  the  time  of  the  President's 
assassination : 

SUNDAY,  January  1,  1865 — Rode  to  Gov.  Stanton's, 
of  Kansas  fame.  Seaton  retired.  Sherman  in  Sa 
vannah;  rebels  whipped,  and  the  condition  of  things 
generally  on  good  footing. 

TUESDAY,  January  3d — Gold  227.  Rumors  of 
peace,  but  no  foundation  in  fact. 

MONDAY,  January  9th — Nothing  new,  save  rumors 
of  peace.  Were  they  true,  it  would  be  delightful. 
Savannah  has  veered  into  the  Union  lines.  Bayonets 
accomplish  much,  especially  when  handled  by  brave 
men.  Amendment  of  Constitution  abolishing  slavery 
up  in  Congress.  Hope  it  will  pass,  for  after  all  is 
said  and  done,  the  war  owes  its  origin  to  slavery. 

TUESDAY,  January  10th — All  is  not  well,  although  it 
is  hoped  that  it  will  end  so.  Fessenden  nominated 


16  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

for  Senator  from  Maine,  an  excellent  choice.  Major- 
General  Butler  removed  on  the  8th;  sent  to  Lowell; 
something  that  should  have  been  done  long  since; 
an  American  politician  with  the  instincts  of  a  Greek, 
"The  Moor  has  done  his  worst,  he  can  go." 

WEDNESDAY,  January  llth — Considerable  contro 
versy  about  Butler's  removal.  All  agree,  however, 
that  he  is  no  general. 

MONDAY,  January  16th — News  of  Everett's  death. 
He  died  yesterday  in  his  seventieth  year.  He  was  a 
man  of  decided  ability  and  talent,  accomplished  and 
patriotic.  He  adorned  every  station;  his  death  is  a 
nation's  loss.  F.  P.  Blair,  Sr.,  who  had  gone  to  Rich 
mond,  has  returned  today.  Rumor  assigns  him  to 
have  effected  measures  for  peace.  Heaven  grant 
it  so. 

TUESDAY,  January  17th — At  the  draft  meeting.  Gen 
eral  Butler  before  committee  on  the  conduct  of  the 
war,  in  relation  to  the  Fort  Fisher  failure.  While  he 
was  explaining  on  the  map  the  utter  madness  of  the 
attempt,  Senator  Wade  received  a  telegram  of  its 
capture  by  Porter  and  General  Terry  on  Sunday  last. 
Comment  unnecessary;  he  subsided  like  a  bladder. 
The  Charleston  and  Richmond  papers  write  very  de- 
spondingly.  The  day  of  doom  has  come.  The  mills 
of  the  gods  grind  slowly  but  they  grind  exceedingly 
well.  I  predict  the  speedy  close  of  war. 

THURSDAY,  January  19th — More  news  from  Wil 
mington.     The  capture  of  Fort  Fisher  was  a  great 
triumph  and  shows  the  difference  between  a  char 
latan  and  a  general. 

FRIDAY,  January  20th — Blair  off  to  Richmond  again. 
There  is  some  chance  for  peace,  even  the  Rebel  Con 
gress  seems  to  be  imbued  with  it.  I  hope  it  may  be 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  17 

so.  The  oil  discoveries  seem  to  rival  the  gold  fever 
of  '47  and  '49  and  is  another  source  of  national 
wealth. 

SATURDAY,  January  21st — Generals  Grant,  Sheridan 
and  Burnside  here.  Charleston  will  soon  be  ours. 
All  concur  in  coming  of  speedy  peace. 

MONDAY,  January  23d — Blair  nor  Livingston  not  yet 
returned  from  Richmond.  Lively  time  in  the  House 
about  Butler.  Brooks  assailed  him  and  Stevens  re 
plied,  and  of  course  with  his  usual  bitterness. 

TUESDAY,  January  24th — The  Smithsonian  caught 
fire  today  and  was  partially  destroyed.  Fort  Gas- 
well  captured,  also  162  guns.  Wilmington  must  now 
fall  an  easy  prey.  The  enemy  abandons  the  coast. 
Called  on  Hon.  R.  E.  Eckley  of  Ohio,  also  on  Gen. 
Schenk. 

WEDNESDAY,  January  25th — Everything  is  dread 
fully  high.  One  must  make  a  fortune  to  live  here. 
Coal  $16,  coffee  60c.,  sugar  35c.,  flour  $17,  butter  70c., 
meat  30c.,  a  good  coat  $100,  boots  $16,  wages  and  fees 
the  same  rate  as  before  the  war  and  discontent  is 
spreading. 

THURSDAY,  January  26th — Peace  rumors  stronger 
than  ever.  A  counter  revolution  south.  Lee  dicta 
tor,  Johnson  reinstated,  Davis  defied  in  his  own 
stronghold.  Secession  among  the  secessionists. 

SATURDAY,  January  28th — A  great  deal  of  talk  about 
peace,  but  I  fear  it  will  lead  to  nothing.  Gen.  But 
ler's  friends  are  injudicious  enough  to  push  his 
claims.  There  can  never  be  a  union  of  states  if  the 
sword  alone  has  to  cement  the  bond.  This  way  will 
only  end  in  conquest. 

TUESDAY,  January  31st — Glorida  de  profundis.  Con 
gress  today  by  constitutional  amendment  abolished 


18  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

slavery  throughout  the  Union,  an  act  as  historic  as 
Independence  Day.  I  doubt  its  constitutionality  but 
who  can  doubt  its  justice.  Peace  commissioners  are 
said  to  be  on  their  way  here.  I  trust  good  may  come 
of  it. 

WEDNESDAY,  February  1st — Events  crowd  hurriedly. 
It  is  reported  and  no  doubt  true  that  Peace  Commis 
sioners  have  reached,  if  not  our  city,  our  lines.  They 
are  Stephens,  Hunter  and  Campbell.  Seward  is  re 
ported  to  have  gone  to  Fortress  Monroe  to  see  them. 
Great  satisfaction  on  the  amendment  of  Constitution. 
Gold  203. 

THURSDAY,  February  2d — Another  eventful  day. 
The  President  and  Seward  have  gone  to  see  the 
southern  commissioners  at  Fortress  Monroe.  Much 
speculation  is  rife.  What  a  boon  peace  is  and  how 
lightly  appreciated. 

FRIDAY,  February  3d — Peace  rumors  fly  thick.  Gold 
209. 

SATURDAY,  February  4th — President  and  Secretary 
Seward  return  and  no  success.  They  claim  indepen 
dence.  They  can  have  it  if  they  gain  it. 

MONDAY,  February  6th — The  papers  still  claim  that 
peace  will  ensue  from  late  conference.  Gold  213. 

TUESDAY,  February  7th — The  Army  of  the  Potomac 
has  made  an  advance.  Sherman  is  closing  on 
Charleston.  The  Rebel  press  is  one  voice  in  favor  of 
war.  The  loyal  press  is  very  conservative  and  peace 
ful,  yet  ready  to  fight  it  out. 

THURSDAY,  February  9th — The  advance  by  Grant 
has  been  repulsed  and  we  have  sustained  a  slight 
loss.  Southern  papers  are  clamorous  for  war  and 
denounce  Lincoln  and  peace.  They  will  not  yield 
save  in  destruction. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  19 

FRIDAY,  February  10th — The  President's  message 
and  accompanying  documents  in  relation  to  peace 
were  read  today  in  Congress.  They  are  very  explicit 
as  to  how  the  conference  was  brought  about,  but 
precious  little  as  to  the  conference.  I  fear  the  nego 
tiations  were  more  a  political  trick  than  the  states 
man's.  Went  to  Ford's  theatre.  General  Grant,  Gen 
eral  Burnside  and  the  President  were  there.  More 
saw  them  than  the  play. 

SATURDAY,  February  llth — General  Grant  in  the 
city.  At  the  House  and  Senate  received  with  distin 
guished  honor.  Went  to  President's  levee.  No  war 
news.  Living  fearfully  high. 

TUESDAY,  February  14th — Sherman  said  to  be 
within  two  miles  of  Charleston.  The  speech  made 
by  Benjamin  at  Richmond  is  fiery  and  bold  and  yet 
he  is  abused  by  the  press.  And  why?  Because  he 
is  a  Jew.  Go  where  you  will  and  this  serpent  of  the 
middle  ages  rears  his  envenomed  head. 

WEDNESDAY,  February  15th — Senator  Hicks,  who 
died  on  Monday,  was  buried  today  with  unusual 
pomp  and  parade.  He  deserved  it  for  he  was  true 
in  the  dark  and  troubled  days  of  '61.  He  alone  of  all 
southern  governors  breasted  the  waves  of  secession. 
Every  article  of  living  continues  high. 

SATURDAY,  February  18th — The  news  from  Sher 
man's  corps  is  decidedly  refreshing  and  gives  sub 
stantial  token  of  a  speedy  and  lasting  peace. 

SUNDAY,  February  19th — News  is  exciting.  Grant 
telegraphs  that  Sherman's  forces  have  captured  Co 
lumbia,  S.  C.,  the  capital  of  the  hot-bed  of  treason. 

MONDAY,  February  20th— Charleston  has  been 
evacuated.  The  city  is  in  possession  of  our  forces. 
At  last  the  day  of  doom  has  dawned  and  the  Hotspur 


20  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

Chivalry  are  made  to  feel  the  folly  of  their  suicidal 
course. 

FRIDAY,  February  24th — Another  day  of  triumph. 
Wilmington  and  Fort  Anderson  were  captured  on  the 
22d  and  Washington's  birthday  has  received  addi 
tional  lustre.  In  the  evening  to  the  draft  meeting 
where  we  had  a  stormy  time,  but  by  boldness  I  suc 
ceeded  in  quelling  the  storm  and  the  conclusion  was 
peace  and  harmony. 

MONDAY,  February  27th — Gold  200.  Congress  busy. 
Louisiana  not  admitted.  The  chances  of  an  imme 
diate  peace  are  as  remote  as  ever. 

TUESDAY,  February  28th — The  oil  fever  is  now 
raging  in  every  part  of  the  Union,  and  from  what 
Hosmer  writes  me  from  Montana  the  gold  and  silver 
lodes  are  all  the  rage  there. 

FRIDAY,  March  3d — Last  day  of  this  Congress.  In 
company  with  Taylor  and  Goodrich  was  at  the  House 
and  Senate  until  12  m.  Nothing  from  Sherman  or 
Grant. 

SATURDAY,  March  4th — Inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
for  another  term.  The  procession  was  small  and 
ceremonies  curtailed  on  account  of  weather,  which 
up  to  12  o'clock  was  miserable,  but  then  the  "Sun 
of  Austerlitz"  burst  forth  and  the  new  administration 
was  ushered  in  by  glorious  signs  as  the  old  passed  off 
in  clouds  and  storms.  An  immense  number  of  peo 
ple  are  here.  The  inauguration  was  brief  and  to  the 
point.  Lincoln  all  over. 

TUESDAY,  March  7th — Hugh  McCullough  confirmed 
as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  an  appointment  which 
is  financial  and  not  political.  The  7/30  loan  goes 
off  like  hot  cakes  and  Jay  Cooke  is  now  or  expects 
soon  to  be  the  Rothschild  of  the  United  States. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  21 

FRIDAY,  March  10th — Harlan  of  Iowa,  Secretary  of 
Interior,  vice  Usher,  removed,  to  take  effect  May  1st. 
Jno.  P.  Hale,  Minister  to  Spain.  Freeman  Clark, 
Comptroller  of  Currency.  Gold  down  to  184.  No 
certain  news  from  Sherman. 

MONDAY,  March  13th — The  news  from  the  South  is 
very  encouraging.  Gold  is  going  gradually.  Mr. 
Lincoln  is  ill.  The  severe  labor  of  shaking  hands 
has  undermined  his  health.  May  Heaven  spare  his 
life. 

TUESDAY,  March  14th — Sheridan  has  got  within 
striking  distance  of  Richmond.  Sherman  telegraphs 
that  he  is  all  O.  K.  near  Fayetteville,  N.  C. 

WEDNESDAY,  March  15th — News  from  the  South 
very  encouraging.  Gold  172.  Stocks  buoyant.  Fail 
ures  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  etc.,  and  the  crash 
is  imminent. 

SATURDAY,  April  1st — Battle  of  Five  Forks  and  re 
moval  of  the  gallant  Gen.  Warren  who  turned  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg  into  victory. 

MONDAY,  April  3d — Capture  of  Richmond,  Wash 
ington  in  a  delirium,  men  walked  the  streets  as  if 
they  were  intoxicated. 

MONDAY,  April  10th — Surrender  of  Lee  and  end  of 
war;  no  doubt  a  great  American  soldier  on  the  wrong 
side. 

TUESDAY,  April  llth— Speech  of  the  President.  A 
memorable  evening. 

THURSDAY,  April  13th — Grand  illumination.  All 
houses  lighted. 


22 


THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 


&F&*>**&&^^W^^  I 


REPRODUCTION  OF  PAGES  FROM  MY  DIARY  OF  1865 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  23 

Before  the  Republican  National  League  of  Wash 
ington  on  the  12th  of  February,  1888,  Lincoln's  Birth 
day,  as  one  of  the  speakers,  I  said: 

"I  offer  no  excuse  for  speaking  on  a  day  sacred  to 
millions  of  people,  for  I  consider  no  day  sacred 
enough  to  speak  in  praise  of  the  memory  of  him 
whose  birth  we  are  celebrating  today.  As  the  power 
of  electricity  is  in  its  embryo  condition,  so  the  fame 
and  glory  of  Abraham  Lincoln  are  commencing  to 
dawn  on  the  appreciation  of  mankind.  I  did  not 
come  here  for  the  purpose  of  enlightening  you  on 
his  history  or  his  achievements;  that  has  already 
been  done  by  abler  minds  than  mine.  I  came  here 
as  one  whose  ancestors  also  were  in  bondage,  whose 
brethren  are  yet  in  political  and  social  bondage;  not 
in  this,  but  in  other  countries,  and  to  whom  and  for 
whom  Abraham  Lincoln  achieved  as  much  freedom 
and  liberty  as  ever  the  laws  of  my  ancestors  have 
conferred  religion  and  civilization  upon  mankind.  I 
consider  an  occasion  of  this  character  should  be  edu 
cational;  to  educate  the  people  of  the  United  States 
to  a  full  and  merited  appreciation  of  all  that  Abra 
ham  Lincoln  was  and  accomplished,  not  as  a  Re 
publican  President,  but  as  an  American  citizen.  I 
believe  that  occasions  of  this  character  should  be 
come  so  thoroughly  appreciated  in  that  portion  of 
the  United  States  which  he  freed  as  that  portion  of 
the  United  States  from  which  he  sprang.  For  I 
know  while  the  colored  men  of  our  nation  have 
been  emancipated,  the  white  men,  by  that  same 
stroke  of  his  pen,  were  equally  emancipated;  for 
what  enslaved  the  one  degraded  the  other.  And  the 
time  will  come,  and  not  in  the  far  distance,  when 


24  THE   PRESIDENTS   I  HAVE   KNOWN 

Americans  in  every  part  of  the  United  States  will 
bless  the  day  that  gave  birth  to  Abraham  Lincoln, 
and  will  bless  the  day  when  the  North  was  courage 
ous  and  strong  enough  to  elect  him,  and  bless  the 
day  when  slavery  was  wiped  away  from  the  statute 
books  of  the  United  States. 

AN  EDUCATIONAL  DAY 

As  I  said,  this  should  be  an  educational  day,  for1 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  only  an  American,  he  was  in  the 
highest  ideal  a  typical  American — the  very  incarna 
tion  of  all  that  was  just,  true  and  manly,  not  only 
for  the  Christian  but  for  the  Jew,  not  only  for  the 
white  man  but  for  the  negro,  not  only  for  the 
American  but  for  all  men,  no  matter  from  what  part 
of  the  world  they  came.  And  at  no  time  in  my 
career  was  I  impressed  more  with  this  fact  than 
when,  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  representing  our 
great  country  abroad,  one  night  between  12  and  1 
o'clock,  when  banqueted  by  one  of  the  native  vice- 
consuls  of  this  country.  His  son,  who  had  been  edu 
cated  in  Syria  at  the  American  College,  arose  and 
toasted  the  memory  of  the  great  emancipator,  speak 
ing  of  Lincoln  in  language  that  will  ever  remain  in 
my  memory — beautiful,  terse,  glowing.  And  there, 
in  the  midst  of  the  Egyptian  ruins,  with  fountains  on 
one  side  and  flowers  on  the  other,  this  remnant  of  a 
decayed  race,  amidst  all  that  which  nature  and  art 
had  once  made  so  glorious,  the  Egyptian  bondsman, 
now  and  ever  under  the  heel  of  the  European  task 
master,  gave  forth  his  meed  of  praise  to  the  great 
American;  and  I,  a  descendant  of  the  exiled  race, 
there  to  listen,  praise  and  applaud. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  25 

"As  the  memory  of  great  men  is  celebrated  from 
time  to  time  in  all  climes,  so  the  memory,  deeds  and 
achievements  of  Abraham  Lincoln  should  forever 
be.  We  have  Shakespeare  anniversaries,  we  have 
Washington  Birthdays ;  we  have  Burns,  Byron,  Long 
fellow,  Bryant  and  other  men  in  all  walks  and  chan 
nels  of  life,  that  have  accomplished  a  great  deal 
for  the  advancement  of  our  species,  for  the  elevation 
of  our  kind,  for  the  radiation  of  thought  and  morals, 
who  are  gratefully  remembered  on  their  anniver 
saries.  And  I  ask  you,  where  would  all  those  of 
our  modern  men  have  been  had  it  not  been  for 
Abraham  Lincoln  to  have  given  impetus  by  his  life, 
to  have  given  character  by  his  achievements,  to  have 
immortalized  truth  and  virtue  as  no  other  Ameri 
can  has  ever  done?  And,  therefore,  we  should  re 
vere  his  memory  and  we  should  make  his  birthday 
national,  to  educate  our  young  men  and  young 
women,  who  perhaps  may  be  falling  by  the  wayside 
into  materialistic  views;  teach  them  that  there  is 
something  yet  in  life  worth  living  for;  that  it  is  not 
the  college,  it  is  not  birth,  it  is  not  wealth,  that  alone 
accomplishes  great  things  in  this  country;  but  it  is 
character  and  truth,  nobility  of  soul  and  virtue  of 
example  that  shall  live  for  all  time,  and  that  will 
find  their  echo  and  their  true  response  in  the  heart, 
not  only  of  every  American,  but  in  the  heart  of  every 
man  that  loves  liberty  and  mankind." 

REVIEW  OF  ARMIES  OF  EAST  AND  WEST 

This  sketch  would  be  incomplete  without  incor 
porating  as  a  part  of  that  history  the  thoughts  that 
came  to  me  at  the  time  of  the  great  review,  when  the 


26  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

armies  of  the  East  and  the  armies  of  the  West  were 
being  mustered  out,  May  24th  and  25th,  1865. 

For  four  years  a  civil  war  had  raged;  thousands 
and  thousands  had  been  killed  on  the  field  of  battle; 
other  thousands  wounded  who  carried  through  life 
the  evidences  of  battle;  thousands  of  homes  and  bil 
lions  of  property  destroyed;  the  beautiful  savannahs 
of  the  Southland  laid  waste — and  now  peace  had 
corne.  And  while  the  conquered,  maimed  heroes  of 
the  South  were  wending  their  steps  to  their  homes, 
proud  and  erect,  as  if  they  had  been  conquerors,  to 
build  anew  for  themselves  and  their  families  recon 
structed  homes  under  new  conditions,  the  conquer 
ors,  the  heroic  soldiers  of  the  Republic,  were  march 
ing  in  serried  ranks,  their  tattered  banners  floating  in 
the  beautiful  May  sky,  to  be  reviewed  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  and  the  members  of  his 
cabinet.  It  was  a  sight  that  can  never  be  forgotten 
and  that  stirred  every  heart. 

HEROES  OF  THE  WAR 

There  was  the  great  general,  who  said  little,  but 
did  so  much  to  bring  about  the  glorious  end  of  the 
internecine  strife,  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  There  was  the 
hero  who  marched  through  Georgia,  whose  prophetic 
words  then,  "War  was  hell  and  could  not  be  refined,'* 
had  been  more  than  verified,  Gen.  Wm.  Tecumseh 
Sherman.  There  was  George  G.  Meade,  hero  of 
Gettysburg,  who,  like  the  State  from  which  he  came, 
formed  the  keystone  of  the  arch  in  the  great  galaxy 
of  heroes.  Then  came  that  soldier  sans  peur  et  sans 
reproche,  Winfield  Scott  Hancock,  who  on  many  a 
field  of  danger  and  doubt  had  rescued  victory.  There 
was  the  dashing,  sturdy  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  who 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  27 

seemed  the  very  embodiment  of  the  god  of  war. 
Then  there  came  galloping  up  the  avenue  with  his 
blond  hair  floating  around  a  beautiful  head,  a  wreath 
of  flowers  in  one  hand,  a  sword  in  the  other,  his 
bridle  rein  in  his  mouth,  the  very  incarnation  of  vic 
tory,  Gen.  George  A.  Guster.  Then  came  the  Have- 
lock  of  the  army,  one-armed  Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  the 
gallant  Henry  W.  Slocum,  and  many  of  the  subordi 
nate  officers  and  privates  who  have  since  risen  to 
national  fame,  notably  Joseph  Benson  Foraker,  Gov 
ernor  and  Senator  from  Ohio,  whose  gallantry  on  the 
field  was  only  exceeded  by  his  bravery  and  out 
spoken  course  as  a  statesman.  There  were  also  two 
gallant  volunteer  leaders,  Gens.  John  A.  Logan  and 
Frank  P.  Blair.  Then  there  was  Gen.  Edward  S. 
Solomon,  who  on  the  field  of  Gettysburg,  when  the 
guns  of  Lee  were  thundering  down  on  the  plains, 
prior  to  the  great  charge  of  Pickett,  had  stood  soli 
tary  and  alone  smoking  his  cigar,  with  a  bravado 
that  inspired  the  admiration  of  the  whole  army. 
There  was  Gen.  Leopold  Blumenberg,  of  Baltimore, 
who  had  lost  one  of  his  legs  at  the  battle  of  Antie- 
tam,  marching  along  with  an  elan  worthy  of  a 
younger  man.  There  was  Capt.  J.  B.  Greenhut,  of 
the  famous  Eighty-second  Illinois,  whose  brilliant 
record  in  the  army  is  still  the  inspiration  around  the 
campfires  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  There 
was  Leopold  Karpeles,  one.  of  the  medal-of -honor 
men,  who  snatched  a  rebel  flag  in  the  midst  of  the 
carnage  and  bore  it  triumphantly  to  the  Union  side, 
and  who  in  turn  became  the  banner  bearer  of  his 
own  troop  and  stood  valiantly  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  terrific  fire,  holding  the  flag  of  his  adopted 
country  aloft  as  a  symbol  and  an  inspiration. 


28  THE  PRESIDENTS  I  HAVE  KNOWN 

SOLDIERS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

I  speak  of  this  comingling  of  names  for  a  purpose. 
It  symbolizes  our  country  and  all  that  the  word 
typifies.  The  men  who  marched  down  the  avenue  in 
those  memorable  May  days  of  '65  were  not  Catholics, 
not  Protestants,  not  Jews — they  were  soldiers  of  the 
Republic,  American  citizens  who  had  left  their 
homes  in  defense  of  the  flag  and  the  glorious  institu 
tions  of  their  fathers,  who  were  returning  to  their 
peaceful  abodes  not  as  conquerors,  not  triumphant 
over  a  fallen  foe,  but  gladdened  that  their  heroism 
and  valor  had  brought  the  men  of  the  North  and 
South  closer  together  and  cemented  into  indestruc 
tible  friendship  and  better  appreciation  the  common 
citizenship  of  the  great  Republic.  At  no  period  of 
the  world's  history  was  there  a  greater  pageant  or 
one  that  testified  more  to  the  sublime  teachings  of 
our  national  life  than  that  great  review. 

Here  was  a  great  commander,  surrounded  by  his 
glorious  staff,  an  army  that  was  ready  to  obey  his 
call,  yet  not  a  sound  was  heard  of  establishing  an 
empire  or  disturbing  the  peaceful  conditions  of  the 
country.  All  were  again  citizens,  whose  ambition 
and  greatest  endeavor  it  was  to  clear  away  differ 
ences  and  to  establish  more  perfectly  the  great  fab 
ric,  reared  by  the  valor  and  heroism  of  those  who 
had  fought  at  Valley  Forge,  as  well  as  those  who 
were  victorious  at  Five  Forks. 

How  well  it  would  be  if  in  all  the  affairs  of  our 
social,  intellectual,  moral  and  business  life  we  could 
bring  home  to  one  and  all  the  grand  example  of  that 
army.  The  lessons  that  are  derived  from  their  ac 
tion — that  is,  that  we  are  a  nation  of  men,  not  sec 
tarians;  that  we  are  Americans,  whether  by  birth  or 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  29 

adoption;  that  the  right  of  this  assumption  has  been 
established  in  a  thousand  forms  in  peace  and  in  war; 
that  this  is  not  a  government  of  Christians  nor  a 
government  of  Jews,  but  "a  government  of  the  peo 
ple,  for  the  people  and  by  the  people." 

Pity  it  is  that  the  great  President,  the  greatest 
American  that  ever  lived,  should  not  have  survived 
to  see  the  pageant  that  he  had  done  so  much  to  cre 
ate,  but  there  was  not  a  single  soldier  that  marched 
or  any  of  the  spectators  that  gazed  upon  that  great 
army  but  felt  a  tear  drop  in  memory  of  him  who 
sleeps  in  the  tomb  at  Springfield,  111.,  whose  example 
has  circled  the  world  in  its  magic  influence  and 
whose  heroism  and  self  denial,  humane  heart,  out 
shone  all  his  contemporaries,  and  will  live  to  bless 
future  generations. 

The  young  men  of  today,  whose  lives  have  been 
cast  in  pleasant  places,  do  not,  as  they  should,  realize 
the  great  problem  that  confronted  the  nation  in  those 
crucial  days  of  '61  and  '65;  but  it  should  be  now, 
more  than  ever,  their  duty  to  defend  the  flag,  to  up 
hold  its  institutions  and  to  prove  themselves  worthy 
of  the  great  heritage  which  they  enjoy,  and  to  extend 
not  only  a  cordial  but  fraternal  greeting  to  the  sur 
viving  heroes  who  will  honor  the  nation's  capital 
with  their  presence,  and  to  assure  them  that  our 
heart's  deepest  appreciation  flows  to  them  for  the 
inestimable  services  rendered  by  them  in  the  darkest 
days  of  the  Republic. 


30  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

VARIOUS  INCIDENTS. 

MY  FIRST  INTERVIEW  AND  EXPERIENCE  WITH 
HORACE  GREELY 

In  the  years  1862  to  1867,  there  existed  in  this  city 
an  organization  entitled  The  Washington  Literary 
and  Dramatical  Association.  It  was  composed  of 
representative  men  of  different  nationalities  and 
creeds.  There  was  no  prejudice  in  the  organization 
—merit  and  service  were  the  recognized  factors  in 
its  curriculum.  Among  other  features,  they  had  a 
course  of  lectures  during  the  winter  months,  and 
that  of  1865  and  1866,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  was 
particularly  notable,  having  for  its  star  speakers, 
Horace  Greely,  Park  Benjamin,  R.  J.  de  Cordova, 
Hosmer,  the  author  of  "The  Octoroon,"  Bayard  Tay 
lor,  and  others  too  numerous  to  mention. 

Horace  Greely,  owing  to  his  pronounced  abolition 
sentiments,  had  never  been  permitted  to  speak  in 
Washington,  and  thus  a  number  of  associations  were 
anxious  to  secure  him  as  a  lecturer.  I  was  President 
of  the  Literary  and  Dramatical  Association  at  the 
time.  I  sent  a  letter  to  Mr.  Greely,  asking  him  to 
lecture  for  us,  telling  him  the  material  of  which  we 
were  composed,  and  that  we  were  striving  to  bring 
into  closer  touch  men  of  all  shades  of  opinion,  to 
the  end  of  bettering  American  citizenship.  He 
promptly  replied  that  the  platform  I  had  outlined 
was  in  accordance  with  his  life-long  views  that  he 
had  always  had  a  great  admiration  for  the  Jews  on 
account  of  their  splendid  historical  achievements 
and  endurance,  and  therefore  he  would  come. 

On  the  evening  of  the  lecture,  Odd  Fellows'  Hall 
on  Seventh  Street,  Northwest,  between  "D"  and  "E" 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  31 

Streets,  was  jammed  to  the  door.  Naturally  a  large 
number  were  anxious  to  see  Horace  Greely;  others 
to  hear  the  great  American  abolitionist;  still  others 
the  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune;  while  naturally 
a  respectable  number  came  out  of  sincere  admiration 
and  affection  for  the  friends  of  the  oppressed.  I 
introduced  him  simply  by  stating,  "I  take  pleasure  in 
presenting  the  speaker  of  the  evening,  Horace  Greely, 
the  friend  of  humanity."  There  was  a  ripple  of  ap 
plause,  and  during  his  lecture,  which  lasted  an  hour 
and  a  quarter,  there  were  several  manifestations  of 
approval  and  no  dissent.  He  was  optimistic  through 
out;  spoke  of  the  past,  and  of  the  assured  prosperity 
of  the  nation,  now  that  slavery  had  been  abolished 
and  the  states  reconciled.  He  hoped  for  a  happy 
future.  At  the  close  of  the  lecture  I  escorted  him  to 
the  Tribune  office,  which  was  then  on  Fourteenth 
Street,  opposite  Willard's  Hotel,  and  when  seated 
(there  never  having  been  a  word  exchanged  between 
us  as  to  his  terms),  I  asked  him  what  we  owed  him. 
He  promptly  replied,  "Nothing."  I  said,  "No,  that 
won't  do,  Mr.  Greely.  We  have  done  very  well,  and 
we  want  to  pay  you."  And  he  said,  "Oh,  you  young 
men  need  all  you  have  made — it  has  given  me  great 
pleasure  and  indeed  it  was  a  privilege  to  be  with 
you."  I  insisted,  however,  and  handed  him  a  one 
hundred  dollar  bill,  which  he  reluctantly  took.  He 
put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and  drew  out  a  dilapi 
dated  pocketbook  that  almost  fell  to  pieces,  and 
slapped  the  hundred  dollar  bill  into  it,  and  then 
commenced  talking  to  me  about  the  Jews  and  their 
achievements,  and  denouncing  the  prejudice  that 
unfortunately  had  made  them  victims  of  oppression 
throughout  all  ages.  In  the  midst  of  the  conversation 


32  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

there  was  a  knock  at  the  door,  and  Greely  with  his 
shrill  voice  said,  "Gome  in,"  and  a  man  came  into 
the  room.  The  moment  Greely  saw  him  he  said, 
"Why,  halloo,  Jim;  I  thought  you  were  West."  The 
man  replied,  "Yes,  I  was  West,  but  I  couldn't  make 
it  go,  so  I  came  back  to  Washington  with  my  wife 
and  child  and  am  stranded."  Greely  at  once  laugh 
ingly  replied,  "Why,  that's  fortunate";  and  out  came 
the  dilapidated  pocketbook,  and  he  handed  Jim  the 
hundred  dollar  bill. 

This  whole  transaction  was  so  thoroughly  charac 
teristic  of  the  great  editor  and  patriotic  American 
that  it  should  not  be  lost  to  history. 

Years  afterwards  a  friend  of  mine  then  living  in 
Baltimore,  a  respected  and  representative  merchant 
of  that  city,  of  Jewish  faith,  but  who  has  since  died, 
was  coming  from  New  York  to  Baltimore,  and  the 
train  being  late,  said  his  prayers  in  the  Pullman  car, 
and  in  connection  therewith  used  the  phylacteries  on 
his  forehead  and  arms  in  accordance  with  the  Ortho 
dox  custom  of  the  Jewish  faith.  Mr.  Greely,  who 
was  in  the  same  car,  came  up  to  him  very  much  in 
terested  and  asked  him  all  about  what  he  was  doing, 
and  admired  him  for  the  courage  of  his  convictions, 
not  ostentatiously,  but  piously  and  religiously  doing 
that  which  he  conceived  to  be  his  duty.  My  friend 
became  equally  interested  and  asked  Mr.  Greely  to 
stop  with  him,  it  being  Friday  evening,  the  opening 
of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  to  partake  of  the  evening 
meal  with  him,  which  invitation  Mr.  Greely  accepted. 
He  watched  with  great  interest  the  lighting  of  the 
Sabbath  lamp  and  the  blessing  by  the  mother  of  the 
household,  heard  the  prayers  recited,  and  was  as  de 
vout  during  the  whole  evening  as  if  he  had  been  a 
convert  to  the  Jewish  faith.  When  Greely  became 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  33 

the  nominee  of  the  liberal  Republicans  and  the 
Democratic  party,  my  friend  wrote  to  him  that  he 
regretted  exceedingly  that  he  had  been  put  forward 
as  the  victim  of  scheming  politicians,  but  neverthe 
less,  as  a  matter  of  recognition  and  admiration  for 
him  as  a  man  and  patriot,  he  would  vote  for  him. 

Just  after  the  attack  on  Ft.  Sumter,  the  Jewish 
Congregation,  worshiping  in  the  Eagle  Street  Syna 
gogue,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  raised  the  American  flag  in 
evidence  of  their  patriotism  and  devotion.  The  ex 
ercises  commenced  by  a  choir  of  young  ladies  sing 
ing  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner"  in  a  very  spirited 
manner. 

The  flag  was  presented  to  the  congregation  by  Mr. 
B.  F.  Peixotto,  accompanied  by  appropriate  remarks 
on  behalf  of  the  young  ladies  who  had  made  it.  I 
also  made  a  short  talk  in  honor  of  the  occasion,  to 
the  following  effect: 

"On  the  shores  of  classic  Italy,  rich  in  eloquence, 
philosophy,  arts  and  sciences  past,  but  forever  en 
shrined  among  the  devotees  of  the  beautiful,  Free 
dom  has  again  planted  the  banner  of  emancipation, 
and  its  enthusiastic  sons  are  marshaled  by  a  chief, 
whose  Garibaldian  will  in  after  times  be  as  much  the 
theme  of  the  poet  as  the  white  plume  of  Henry  of 
Navarre,  or  the  grey  coat  of  him  who  sleeps  'neath 
the  dome  of  the  Invalides. 

As  Americans — as  Israelites — we  contemplate  with 
peculiar  delight  Feudalism  and  Priestcraft  swept 
away,  and  leaving  in  its  stead  Institutions  evoked  by 
the  free  and  untrammelled  choice  of  a  Nation  of 
Freemen. 

But  while  glorious  Italy  is  struggling  to  emancipate 
itself  from  the  thraldom  and  bondage  of  ages,  dedi- 


34  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

eating  the  fair  and  genial  soil  to  posterity,  for  fra 
ternal,  united  and  free  purposes — we  see  here  in  our 
own  fair  land — fairer  than  the  sun  of  God  ever  shone 
upon — misguided,  ambitious  demagogues,  forgetting 
their  duty  and  allegiance  to  their  God  and  country, 
enlisted  to  destroy  and  upheave  the  foundations  of 
our  common  Union,  erasing  the  letter  and  spirit  of 
the  Constitution,  as  our  conscript  Fathers  made  it, 
and  trampling  upon  that  glorious  emblem  of  nation 
ality,  whose  spangled  and  starred  folds  have  shed  a 
halo  of  glory  and  renown  upon  the  name  of  America. 

Here  in  the  noonday  of  civilization,  art  and  sci 
ence,  we  see  men  usurping  the  prerogatives  of  jus 
tice,  aiming  to  destroy  Freedom,  move  back  the  dial 
of  progress,  and  to  perpetuate  that  from  which  we 
have  fled;  will  we  stand  idly  by  and  see  this  done? 
No !  Never !  The  descendants  of  those  warrior  heroes 
whose  gallant  deeds  have  been  enrolled  on  the  illu 
mined  pages  of  Sacred  History,  will  never  permit  the 
home  of  their  adoption  to  be  desecrated,  the  last 
sanctuary  of  freedom  to  be  despoiled  by  the  unholy 
touch  of  Traitors  and  Rebels. 

And  this,  the  16th  day  of  May,  1861,  shall  be  to 
your  posterity  the  Mecca  at  whose  shrine  they  will 
worship,  for  it  is  on  this  auspicious  genial  May  day 
their  sires  pledge  anew,  their  lives,  fortunes  and 
sacred  honor  to  a  cause  for  which  they  have  suffered 
in  every  clime,  and  for  which  they  are  today  ready  to 
sacrifice  all  they  have  by  industry  and  prosperity 
amassed,  and  as  a  slight  memento  of  your  sincerity 
;and  devoted  adherence  to  a  cause  for  which  your 
every  heart's  pulsation  beats,  you  have  this  day  dedi 
cated  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  as  that  starred  emblem, 
the  patriotic  gift  of  your  fair  daughters,  floats  in  all 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  35 

its  beauty  and  grandeur  from  the  Dome  of  your 
Sanctuary,  so  shall  it  again  wave — the  shield  of  pro 
tection  to  a  pursued  Kozta  and  fleeing  Kossuth — 
from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  furthest  con 
fines  of  the  Mexican  Gulf." 

Curious  that  fifty-six  years  thereafter,  when  the 
United  States  declared  war  against  Germany  in 
April,  1917,  it  was  the  Jewish  Congregation  worship 
ing  on  Eighth  Street,  Washington,  D.  C.,  that  raised 
the  flag  on  the  Temple  to  again  give  evidence  of  their 
spirit  of  true  Americanism,  and  on  which  occasion  I 
made  a  short  address. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  there  were  unjust  attacks  made 
upon  American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith,  which  were 
not  only  local  in  Washington  but  throughout  the 
country.  It  became  so  virulent  that  I  was  impelled 
to  write  a  letter  to  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  setting 
forth  in  a  clear  and  convincing  manner  the  injustice 
done  to  American  citizens  whose  loyalty  and  devo 
tion  to  American  institutions  in  peace  and  in  war 
could  not  be  questioned. 

DEFENCE  OF  THE  JEWISH  RACE — PREJUDICE  REBUKED. 

Ignorance  is  said  to  be  the  foundation  of  prejudice 
and  intolerance.  I  know  not  how  true  this  axiom 
may  have  been  in  the  remote  past;  it  certainly  is  not 
true  in  the  present,  for  the  higher  you  ascend  in  the 
scale  of  intellect  and  officers  of  the  public  service, 
the  more  bigotry  and  prejudice  do  you  find.  My 
heart  is  sick,  my  brain  weary,  my  hopes  dampened 
by  these  manifestations,  not  alone  in  the  social,  but 
radiating  from  the  highest  official  circles.  I  am  not 
one  of  those  who  have  raised  an  immediate  outcry 
if  perchance  a  criminal  was  called  a  Jew,  nor  have  I 


36  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

assumed  that,  because  some  subservient,  pliant  editor 
launched  forth  his  slimy  vituperations,  they  were  the 
opinions  of  the  American  Press;  nor  do  I  claim  to 
be  a  religious  Israelite,  but  I  do  claim  to  be  an  Israel 
ite  and  American.  I  espouse  this  cause  from  pure 
motives,  because  there  is  a  living  vital  principle  in 
volved.  I  know  full  well  that  it  is  useless  to  argue 
or  reason  with  men  whose  inborn  feelings  are  fixed 
and  adamantine,  who  acknowledge  no  other  cri 
terion  but  that  which  their  avarice  has  engendered 
and  their  peculiar  loyalty  cemented.  But  I  do  ap 
peal  to  that  American  community  whose  proudest 
boast  has  ever  been  to  be  free  from  prejudice,  and 
whose  pathway  has  been  one  scene  of  triumph  in 
the  walks  of  freedom  and  culture. 

I  am  to  you  a  stranger;  you  to  me  a  household 
word.  Years  ago  I  swore  allegiance  to  the  star  of 
your  destiny,  and  more  particularly  since  the  ap 
pearance  of  that  beautiful  and  gifted  criticism  on 
Shylock,  as  portrayed  by  Edwin  Booth;  for  he  who 
could  indite  the  following  is  not  alone  the  truthful 
historian,  but  the  friend  of  humanity. 

"Shakespeare  but  followed  the  lofty  impulse  of  his 
nature  in  holding  up  to  execration  that  unquench 
able  lust  of  lucre  which  marks  the  race,  although  he 
does  not  show  that  this  passion  was  but  the  effect  of 
that  persecution  which,  by  crowding  the  Jew  out  of 
every  honorable  pursuit,  and  thus  cutting  off  his 
nature  from  every  sympathy  with  the  world  around, 
sharpened  and  edged  the  keen  corners  of  his  brain 
for  the  only  pursuit  left  to  him.  It  is  true  that 
money-changers  once  spit  on  in  the  Ghetto  are  now 
hugged  in  the  palace.  Rothschilds  and  Foulds,  Bel- 
monts  and  Benjamins,  are  found  in  the  ante-cham 
ber  of  princes  and  presidents.  But  we  fear  that  it 
is  not  so  much  that  the  prejudice  against  the  Jews 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  37 

has  ceased,  but  that  the  love  of  money  has  increased; 
not  that  the  Jews  have  become  as  Christians,  but  that 
Christians  have  become  as  Jews. 

"But  if  Shakespeare  was  just  in  this  respect  he 
was  not  so  in  the  picture  he  has  drawn  of  the  Jew's 
craving  for  revenge,  and  in  the  contempt  with  which 
he  is  treated  by  his  daughter.  Revenge  is  not  a 
characteristic  of  the  Jew.  He  is  subject  to  sudden 
storms  of  passion,  as  in  Shylock's  scene  with  Tubal, 
but  that  intellect  which  always  stands  sentinel  over 
the  Hebrew  soon  subdues  the  gust.  *  *  * 

"Jews  also  shrink  from  physical  contests.  Their 
disposition  is  to  triumph  by  intellect  rather  than  vio 
lence.  It  was  this  trial  more  than  any  other  which 
rendered  them  in  the  Middle  Ages  so  repulsive  to 
the  masses,  who  were  all  of  the  Morrisey  and  mus 
cular  Christianity  school.  The  contempt  of  a  daugh 
ter  for  her  parent  is  equally  uncharacteristic  of  the 
Jew.  The  Jews  are  universally  admired  for  the 
affections  which  adorn  their  domestic  life.  The  more 
they  have  been  pushed  from  the  society  of  the  family 
of  man,  the  greater  the  intensity  with  which  they 
have  clung  to  the  love  of  their  own  family. 

"No  one  can  ever  have  visited  the  houses  of  the 
Jews  without  having  been  struck  by  the  glowing 
affection  with  which  the  daughter  greets  the  father 
as  he  returns  from  the  day's  campaign  and  the  slights 
and  sneers  his  gaberdine  and  yellow  cap  provoke, 
and  without  observing  how  those  small,  restless  eyes 
that  sparkle  and  gleam  like  snakes  in  search  of  prey, 
shine  out  a  softened  loving  lustre  as  they  fall  upon 
the  face  of  Rebecca  or  Jessica,  or  Sarah,  and  how  he 
stands  no  longer  with  crooked  back,  but  erect  and 
commanding  as  he  blesses  his  household  gods  with 
an  exultation  as  vehement  as  the  prejudices  which 
during  the  day  have  galled  and  fretted  his  nature. 

"To  do  justice  to  the  grandeurs  of  the  Jewish  race, 
and  to  brand  with  infamy  its  infirmities,  it  is  not 
enough  to  produce  a  repulsive  delineation  of  the 
latter.  It  would  be  only  just  to  give  expression  to 


38  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

the  former,  and  to  exhibit  that  superiority  of  intel 
lect  which  has  survived  all  persecutions,  and  which, 
soaring  above  the  prejudices  of  the  hour,  has  filled 
us  with  reluctant  admiration  on  finding  how  many 
of  the  great  events  which  mark  the  progress  of  the 
age,  or  minister  to  its  improvement,  or  elevate  its 
past  may  be  traced  to  the  wonderful  workings  of 
the  soul  of  the  Hebrew  and  the  supremacy  of  that 
spiritual  nature  which  gave  to  mankind  its  noblest 
religion,  its  noblest  laws,  and  some  of  its  noblest 
poetry  and  music.  *  *  *" 

Were  these  times  not  extraordinary  and  the  preju 
dice  now  existing  not  rioting  in  an  insanity  of  abuse, 
I  might  with  profit  stop  and  let  your  glorious  words 
be  our  best  defence.  But  the  war  now  raging  has 
developed  an  intensity  of  malice  that  borders  upon 
the  darkest  days  of  superstition  and  the  Spanish  in 
quisition.  Has  the  war  now  raging  been  inaugu 
rated  or  fostered  by  Jews  exclusively?  Is  the  late 
democratic  party  composed  entirely  of  Israelites? 
Are  all  the  blockade-runners  and  refugees  descen 
dants  of  Abraham?  Are  there  no  native  Americans 
engaged  in  rebellion?  No  Christians  running  the 
blockade,  or  meek  followers  of  Christ  within  the 
folds  of  Tammany? 

We  have  been  branded  and  outraged  for  four  long 
years,  until  discretion  has  ceased  to  be  a  virtue,  and 
it  is  incumbent  upon  you,  the  father  of  the  American 
Press,  to  give  us  a  hearing  through  the  columns  of 
your  valuable  journal. 

Why,  when  the  authorities  arrest  a  criminal,  tele 
graph  immediately  throughout  the  Union  that  a  Jew, 
or  another  Jew  blockader  has  been  caught?  Do  they, 
when  they  catch  a  James  Maloney,  say  a  Methodist 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  39 

or  Presbyterian  has  been  caught?  Is  it,  then,  a  crime 
to  be  born  a  Jew,  which  has  to  be  expiated  upon  the 
the  altar  of  public  opinion  by  a  life  of  suffering  and 
abuse? 

We  have  no  country  by  inheritance;  scattered  over 
the  wide  world  we  find  a  home  and  refuge  wherever 
tolerance  and  freedom  abide.  We  become  by  adop 
tion  natives  of  the  soil,  and  give  our  toil  and  devo 
tion  to  the  land  and  the  flag.  That  local  politicians, 
and  even  some  metropolitan  journals,  have  enun 
ciated  the  lie  that  we  are  cowards;  that  none  of  us 
are  in  the  army,  and  if  so,  on  the  other  side. 

And  this  standing  paragraph  has  gone  the  rounds 
of  the  press,  to  the  shame  and  disgrace  of  an  intelli 
gent  public,  and  no  rebuke  so  far  has  been  adminis 
tered  by  any  journal  save  those  whose  circulation  is 
exclusively  among  the  persons  maligned. 

I  know,  and  I  can  produce  the  proofs,  that  some  of 
the  grandest  acts  of  heroism  performed  during  this 
war  were  done  by  Jews.  That  more  than  a  thousand 
commissioned  and  non-commissioned  officers  and 
thousands  of  privates  are  serving  in  the  Union  army, 
whose  faith  is  in  God  and  their  country.  Who  was 
it  that  on  the  banks  of  Green  River,  in  the  spring  of 
1862,  when  a  company  of  the  Thirty-second  Indiana 
Volunteers  were  attacked  and  surrounded  by  thou 
sands  of  Texans,  stood  single-handed  and  alone 
against  those  fearful  odds,  scorning  to  surrender, 
killing  and  wounding  eight  of  his  assailants,  and  at 
last  yielding  his  life  a  sacrifice  to  duty,  and  thus  sav 
ing  his  scattered  regiment?  Lieutenant  Sachs,  a 
Jew! 

But  was  this  act  of  bravery  chronicled  as  the  deed 
of  a  Jew?  No;  nor  is  it  any  more  necessary  than 


40  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

that  the  other  should  be  done,  only  it  marks  the  con 
trast. 

Was  the  name  of  that  gallant  man  and  patriot, 
Colonel  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry,  who  was  severely  wounded,  serv 
ing  under  Grant  in  the  famous  and  immortal  Vicks- 
burg  campaign,  who  was  advised  and  entreated  to 
resign,  but  who  gave  a  decisive  no,  saying  that  he 
embarked  in  this  contest  to  see  his  country  free  and 
united  or  his  life  ended,  and  who  at  last  fell  by  a 
rebel  bullet  in  that  fatal  Red  River  expedition,  May 
4,  1864 — Marcus  M.  Spiegel,  a  Jew — ever  mentioned 
as  such? 

Was  your  own  brave  citizen,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Newman,  who  offered  his  life  as  a  sacrifice,  and  who 
upon  his  dying  bed  received  the  promotion  of  a 
brigadier-generalship  ever  mentioned  as  a  Jew? 

But  why  multiply  words.  I  could  go  on  quoting 
incidents  by  the  thousands,  and  no  one  is  or  should 
be  more  conversant  with  them  than  the  departments 
at  Washington,  whence  proceeds  so  much  of  this  foul 
heresy  and  poisonous  inoculation. 

Are  all  the  copperheads  Jews  because  Belmont  was 
the  chairman  of  the  Democratic  Convention? 

Is  your  own  honored  and  talented  citizen,  Abram 
J.  Dittenhoefer,  elector  on  the  Lincoln  ticket,  a  traitor 
because  he  is  a  Jew? 

Is  Moses  A.  Dropsie,  Esq.,  one  of  Philadelphia's 
most  gifted  and  talented  lawyers,  and  who  has  been 
ever  an  active,  untiring  abolitionist,  a  traitor  because 
he  is  a  Jew? 

Least  of  all,  should  the  dominant  party,  which 
claims  to  be  the  "avant  courier"  of  truth,  give  expres 
sion  to  the  intolerance  sown  broadcast;  it  certainly 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  41 

has  not  been  decreed  that  the  United  States  should 
feed  this  growing  sentiment,  which  has  almost  died 
out  in  Europe.  The  party  that  has  espoused  the  per 
sonal  freedom  of  the  negro  is  certainly  not  the  one  to 
launch  forth  its  decrees  and  bulls  against  another 
portion  of  the  human  race. 

Several  parties  have  been  lately  arrested  and  are 
being  tried  by  the  proper  tribunals  for  an  attempt 
to  sell  goods  contraband  of  war,  and  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  the  land.  Fortunately  there  were  some 
Christians  among  the  number,  or  else  the  Press 
would  have  teemed  with  abuse,  and  the  telegraph 
would  have  lightened  its  startling  news  of  "another 
batch  of  Jew  blockade  runners  caught."  As  it  is, 
the  journals  have  been  coy  as  doves;  only  when  a 
Christian  firm  has  been  released  or  tried,  it  was  offi 
cially  announced  as  such;  but  when  some  unlucky 
son  of  Israel  shared  the  same  fate  it  was  chronicled 
as  a  Jew  released. 

To  us  there  is  nothing  odious  or  revolting  in  the 
term  "Jew";  we  are  proud  to  be  Jews,  as  history,  art 
and  science  glow  with  the  pages  of  our  triumph ;  but 
it  is  here  used  in  this  connection  as  a  term  of  re 
proach,  abuse,  and  to  add  to  the  malignancy  of  bigot 
and  fanatic. 

For  several  weeks  an  article  has  gone  the  rounds 
of  the  press,  detailing  in  colors  that  would  do  a 
Darley  no  dishonor,  a  conversation  between  a  cer 
tain  "humble  tobacconist  of  Baltimore"  and  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  article  says  "a 
deputation  of  twelve  Jewish  tailors  and  cutters,"  etc., 
etc.  Now  not  one  Jew  was  among  them;  they  were 
Christians  and  Republicans.  It  says  "that  a  wealthy 
Jew  secessionist  tried  to  be  released,"  etc.  Equally 


42  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

false,  and  the  President  is  then  praised  for  his  firm 
ness  for  refusing,  etc.,  etc.  Fortunately  I  have  an 
abiding  faith  in  the  good  sense  and  patriotism  of  the 
honored  Chief  Magistrate,  and  that  he  will  not  pan 
der  to  every  vagabond  scribbler  who  comes  fawn- 
ingly  begging  a  few  crumbs  from  the  official  loaves. 

Was  this  scribbler  aware  that  the  brother  of  that 
"tobacconist,"  and  who  had  vouched  for  the  loyalty 
of  this  same  secess  Jew,  was  a  major  in  the  Army  of 
the  United  States  and  a  provost-marshal  of  Mary 
land,  who  was  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  of 
Antietam,  losing  a  leg,  and  who  is  one  of  the  most 
active  loyalists  of  Baltimore?  General  L.  Blumen- 
berg,  a  Jew. 

Is  it  the  Government  of  the  United  States  that  is 
pursuing  this  crusade  against  these  citizens,  or  is  it 
fostered  and  tolerated  by  its  agents  and  the  press? 

I  am  not  now  pleading  the  cause  of  the  Jew,  but 
I  am  defending  the  principle  that  underlies  our  pub 
lic  institutions,  our  private  worth.  Are  we  to  go  on 
in  this  uncalled  for  vituperation,  and  sowing  the 
wind  to  reap  at  last  the  whirlwind? 

When  you  catch  anyone  guilty  of  a  wrong,  an 
nounce  the  fact  "that  John  Jones  was  this  day 
caught,"  etc.  Make  no  distinction,  arouse  no  local 
pride,  foment  no  prejudice,  and  thus  only  can  we  as 
a  nation  become  national,  free  and  independent;  for 
when  the  day  dawns  upon  peace,  let  the  sun  of  lib 
erty  illumine  every  nook  and  cranny  of  American 
soil,  and  let  its  resplendent  effulgence  dispel  from 
every  heart  the  last  vestige  of  prejudice  against 
creed  or  color,  and  let  us  be  one  in  speech,  one  in 
sentiment,  united  in  purpose  and  gloriously  great  in 
our  love  of  destiny. 

SIMON  WOLF. 

Washington,  D.  G.,  November  20,  1864. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  43 

The  letter  was  published  and  elicited  the  follow 
ing  editorial  comment  from  said  paper: 

THE  HEBREW  RAGE 

We  publish  on  our  first  page  a  heartfelt  protest  of 
Mr.  Wolf,  of  Washington,  against  the  flippant  and 
contemptuous  phrases  which  the  newspapers  often 
use  in  speaking  of  the  Israelites.  His  sensitiveness 
is  natural  under  the  circumstances,  and,  indeed,  con 
sidering  the  provocation,  it  can  not  be  said  that  he 
uses  language  too  strong  in  his  rebukes  of  a  prev 
alent  prejudice.  But  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  writer  does  a  slight  injustice  to  journalists  and 
others  in  ascribing  to  animosity  what  is  generally  the 
result  of  inadvertence — a  culpable  carelessness,  we 
admit,  but  not  a  wilful  offense. 

Our  correspondent  is  pleased  to  compliment  the 
Evening  Post  on  its  uniform  courtesy  towards  all 
races  and  religions,  but  the  virtue  we  possess  is  due 
exclusively  to  our  system  of  political  opinions,  which 
demands,  in  the  language  of  Jefferson,  "equal  and 
exact  justice  to  all  men,"  because  they  are  men;  and 
which  will  not  be  satisfied  with  any  condition  of  so 
ciety  or  any  state  of  sentiment  that  does  not  cheer 
fully  acknowledge  the  universal  brotherhood  of  the 
human  kind. 

My  letter  was  republished  in  the  Jewish  Occident, 
edited  by  Rev.  Isaac  Leeser,  of  Philadelphia. 

President  Lincoln's  attention  having  been  called  to 
this  letter,  voiced  his  indignation  in  no  uncertain 
terms,  stating  at  the  same  time  that  no  class  of  citi 
zenship  in  the  United  States  was  superior  in  patriot 
ism  to  those  of  Jewish  faith. 


44  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

The  Washington  Chronicle  had  an  editorial  com 
ment  to  the  following  effect: 

"The  writer,  as  we  learn  from  the  Post,  is  a  citi 
zen  of  Washington,  and  he  certainly  presents  his 
case  with  ability  and  candor.  It  was  once  said  by  a 
distinguished  minister  that  every  people  persecuted 
were  apt  to  believe  all  men  to  be  their  enemies,  and 
this  is  true  in  more  than  one  sense  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  yet  in  our  great  struggle  for  human  freedom 
many  of  the  bravest  and  best  defenders  of  the  old 
flag  have  been  Israelites.  The  great  party  which  re- 
elected  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  intends  to  restore  the  Union 
on  the  most  liberal  basis,  is  a  party  which  ignores 
sects  and  sections,  and  if  it  could  lend  itself  to  a 
proscription  of  any  man  because  of  his  religion  or 
his  color,  it  would  deserve  to  go  down  into  utter 
and  inevitable  infamy.  Hence  it  is  that  we  recognize 
in  the  article  to  which  we  refer,  and  in  the  endorse 
ment  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post — one  of  the 
oldest  and  ablest  of  the  Republican  journals — that 
spirit  by  which  alone  the  present  organization  of 
the  friends  of  the  Federal  Union  can  be  preserved 
and  perpetuated." 

Mr.  L.  E.  Chittenden,  who  at  one  time  was  Register 
of  the  Treasury,  relates  in  his  "Recollections  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,"  a  remarkable  episode  of  the  Civil 
War.  Two  Confederate  cruisers  were  ready  to  leave 
English  ports  to  prey  upon  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States,  when  our  Minister  to  London,  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  interposed.  The  English  Govern 
ment  as  a  concession  stated  that  if  a  guarantee  fund 
of  five  million  dollars  was  deposited  to  the  credit 
of  the  English  Government  by  the  United  States  as 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  45 

a  guarantee  against  any  damages  that  hereafter 
might  be  awarded  to  the  Confederacy,  the  ships 
would  not  be  allowed  to  sail.  There  was  no  cable 
at  the  time,  and  Mr.  Adams  was  in  great  distress, 
when  an  English  gentleman  came  to  the  rescue  and 
made  the  deposit  of  five  million  dollars  which  pre 
vented  the  sailing  of  the  cruisers. 

This  episode  is  given  at  length  in  Mr.  Chittenden's 
"Recollections,"  and  reproduced  in  my  book  "The 
American  Jew,  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and  Citizen." 

In  correspondence  with  Mr.  Chittenden  after  the 
appearance  of  his  book,  I  called  his  attention  to  my 
belief  that  the  English  gentleman  was  a  Jew,  to 
which  Mr.  Chittenden  replied  that  he  was  not  in  a 
position  to  deny  or  to  affirm,  as  the  name  of  the 
generous  person  was,  at  his  request,  withheld. 

Recently  I  had  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  from 
one  of  the  towns  in  Pennsylvania,  in  which  he  asked 
me,  having  read  in  the  American  Hebrew  my  sketch 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  "Do  you  think  Lincoln  was  a 
Christian,  an  Infidel,  a  Deist  or  a  Spiritualist?  Did 
you  ever  hear  him  make  any  remarks  on  the  sub 
ject?  Did  you  ever  hear  him  utter  an  oath,  or  tell 
an  obscene  story?  Do  you  know  him  to  have  been 
a  temperance  man,  or  a  prohibitionist?"  To  which 
I  replied: 

"Your  letter  is  at  hand.  I  do  not  know  to  what 
particular  sectarian  belief  Mr.  Lincoln  adhered.  I 
only  know  that  in  the  ideal  humanitarian  sense  he 
was  a  Christian,  and  one  who,  like  "Abou  Ben 
Adhem,"  loved  his  fellowmen. 

"I  do  not  believe  he  was  a  prohibitionist.  I  do 
know  that  he  was  a  man  temperate  in  all  things, 
which  is  the  test  of  character. 


46  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

"I  never  did  hear  him  tell  an  obscene  story.  He 
did  use  many  anecdotes  to  illustrate  a  point,  and 
particularly  the  famous  one  when  preachers  from 
the  West  came  and  asked  him  to  discharge  General 
Grant  because  he  drank  too  much  whiskey,  and 
Lincoln  promptly  asked  them  whether  they  could 
tell  him  where  he  bought  it,  as  he  would  like  to  have 
some  purchased  and  send  it  to  some  of  the  other 
Generals." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  address  de 
livered  by  me  before  the  German  Societies  of  Wash 
ington  at  their  celebration  in  commemoration  of 
Lincoln's  Birthday  on  February  12,  1898: 

"In  the  month  of  February,  the  American  people 
have  the  honor  of  celebrating  the  birthdays  of  two 
of  the  greatest  men  the  world  has  ever  known- 
Abraham  Lincoln,  born  on  the  12th,  and  George 
Washington,  born  on  the  22nd.  The  question  is, 
which  was  the  greater  and  the  more  to  be  revered 
by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Washington  was 
the  founder;  Lincoln  the  preserver.  Washington 
sprang,  you  might  say,  from  royalty.  He  had  in  his 
veins  what  is  known  as  the  blue  blood  of  Virginia, 
and  while  he  was  great  in  war  and  great  in  peace, 
yet  when  compared  with  Abraham  Lincoln  the 
divergence  is  great. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  people,  with  the 
people,  and  for  the  people.  He  sprang  directly  from 
the  ranks  of  the  people,  and  there  are  none  of  our 
public  men  who  understand  the  people,  are  as 
familiar  with  their  desires  and  needs  and  appreciate 
true  democracy  as  did  the  great  martyr  President. 
I  believe  with  many  others  that  certain  people  are 
born  for  a  certain  age.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  ere- 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  47 

ated  by  the  great  God  to  live  at  a  time  when  such 
a  hand  and  mind  as  his  was  necessary  to  preserve 
the  union  and  free  the  slave. 

We  are  here  today  as  American  citizens,  to  show 
that  those  to  the  manner  born  have  no  mortgage  on 
the  love  and  affection  borne  the  great  Lincoln.  As 
time  goes  on  what  this  man  was  and  what  he  accom 
plished  is  the  more  fully  known  and  appreciated. 
One  hundred  years  from  now  his  character  will  be 
held  loftier,  more  noble  than  it  was  among  his  con 
temporaries.  This  is  but  natural.  The  magnificent 
nation  he  preserved  and  did  so  much  to  upbuild  will 
grow  and  become  still  greater,  and  the  principles  of 
liberty  and  freedom  for  which  he  died  will  be  more 
fully  understood  and  their  true  value  realized  and 
appreciated.  Our  children  and  our  children's  chil 
dren  will  hail  the  name  and  revere  the  memory  of 
the  war  President  as  the  greatest  friend  of  all  citi 
zens.  His  companions  on  the  field  of  battle  and  in 
peace  were  men  prominent  in  the  history  of  all  na 
tionalities  in  the  United  States. 

Abraham  Lincoln's  humanity  was  beyond  ques 
tion.  He  never  knowingly  did  anyone  the  slightest 
injustice.  His  heart  went  out  to  the  people.  He  did 
not  use  his  pen  to  seal  the  fate  of  any  man,  with  the 
exception  of  Gordon,  the  convicted  slave  catcher 
and  trader.  The  man  who  with  one  stroke  of  his 
pen  wiped  off  the  statutes  that  stain  of  the  nine 
teenth  century  could  not  reconcile  himself  to  let  this 
inhuman  slave  catcher  live. 

Lincoln's  name  and  fame  will  never  die,  as  long 
as  self-sacrifice  and  true  democracy  is  appreciated. 
We  Americans,  who  fought  with  him  and  in  support 
of  the  principles  he  represented,  must  see  to  it  that 


48  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

his  name,  fame  and  achievements  shall  live  for  all 
time  and  his  memory  be  revered  by  us  with  affec 
tion  and  loyalty."  These  sentiments  of  patriotism 
and  love  of  the  flag  are  cherished  in  this  world  war 
as  they  were  in  the  Civil  War. 

On  the  occasion  of  my  seventieth  birthday  Miss 
Ida  M.  Tarbell  wrote  in  my  Year  Book  the  following : 

"With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all, 
with  firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the 
right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in." 
As  good  a  sentiment  today,  is  it  not  my  dear  Mr. 
Wolf,  as  when  your  friend,  Mr.  Lincoln,  uttered  it 
nearly  forty  years  ago. 

Sincerely, 

IDA  M.  TARBELL. 
October  31,  1903. 

On  my  eightieth  birthday  the  same  author,  in  send 
ing  me  a  copy  of  her  world-famous  book  on  Lincoln, 
wrote  the  following: 

MY  DEAR  MR.  WOLF:  I  have  always  counted  it  a 
privilege  to  meet  anyone  who  knew  Abraham  Lin 
coln.  I  count  it  an  honor  that  one  who  stood  where 
you  did  in  the  Civil  War,  should  not  only  want  my 
Life  of  Lincoln,  but  want  my  name  in  your  copy. 
I  place  it  with  pleasure  and  with  all  good  wishes. 

IDA  M.  TARBELL. 

October  28th,  1916. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  49 

In  my  Seventieth  Year  Book,  Carl  Schurz  wrote 
the  following: 

"Gold  is  good  in  its  place,  but  living,  brave,  patri 
otic  men  are  better  than  Gold." — Abraham  Lincoln. 

To  my  old  friend  Simon  Wolf,  the  patriotic,  high- 
minded  and  useful  citizen  of  the  great  Republic,  the 
heartiest  greetings  on  his  seventieth  birthday. 

C.  SCHURZ. 

As  John  Hay  was  one  of  the  Secretaries  and  biog 
raphers  of  President  Lincoln,  it  gratifies  me  to  give 
in  this  sketch  his  beautiful  tribute,  written  in  my 
Seventieth  Year  Book : 

Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  congratulate  you  not  only  upon  seventy  years  of 
a  well-spent  life,  but  also  upon  the  mental,  moral 
and  physical  soundness  and  vigor  which  are  the 
guarantee  of  many  more  years  of  usefulness  to  your 
country  and  to  humanity  at  large. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

JOHN  HAY. 

For  four  years  the  London  Punch  lampooned 
Mr.  Lincoln.  After  his  assassination,  the  following 
poem,  which  can  not  be  too  often  republished,  ap 
peared  in  Punch: 

"Beside  this  corpse  that  bears  for  winding  sheets, 
The  stars  and  stripes  he  lived  to  rear  anew, 

Between  the  mourners  at  his  head  and  feet, 
Say,  scurrile  jester,  is  there  room  for  you? 

"Yes,  he  had  lived  to  shame  me  from  my  sneer, 
To  lame  my  pencil  and  confute  my  pen, 

To  make  me  own  this  hind  of  princes  peer, 
This  rail  splitter,  a  true  born  king  of  men." 


ANDREW  JOHNSON 

Andrew  Johnson  was  nominated  in  Baltimore  as 
Vice  President  with  Abraham  Lincoln  running  as 
President  for  the  second  term.  As  is  historically 
known,  there  had  been  a  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction 
among  some  of  the  Union  men,  especially  in  the 
border  states,  and  a  movement  indeed  had  been 
started  by  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio,  and  S.  G.  Pome- 
roy,  of  Kansas,  to  prevent  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  therefore  the  leaders  of  the  Republican 
party  deemed  it  wise  to  nominate  a  Southern  border 
state  Union  man. 

Andrew  Johnson  was  the  one  selected,  having  by 
virtue  of  his  stanch  and  patriotic  course  in  the  state 
of  Tennessee  done  loyal  service,  which  in  reality 
saved  that  state  from  giving  more  substantial  aid  to 
the  Confederate  cause.  His  outspoken  bitterness, 
amounting  almost  to  hatred,  against  those  who  were 
in  rebellion,  was  so  pronounced  that  when  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  no  longer  President  the  Union  men 
throughout  the  country  felt  a  great  deal  of  appre 
hension  as  to  the  course  Johnson  might  pursue,  inas 
much  as  his  public  utterances  had  lacked  discretion 
and  diplomacy. 

Senator  William  M.  Stewart,  of  Nevada,  in  his 
autobiography,  states  that  Senator  Hoar,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  and  he,  as  a  committee  from  the  Senate, 
called  after  Lincoln's  death  at  the  Kirkwood  Hotel, 
on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  to  inform  Mr.  Johnson  of 
the  death  of  the  President,  and  to  have  him  sworn  in 
as  the  successor.  It  is  hard  for  me  to  believe  that 
the  physical  condition  of  the  incoming  president  was 
as  described  by  Stewart,  and  therefore  I  will  not 


ANDREW  JOHNSON 
1865-1869 


ANDREW  JOHNSON  51 

repeat  what  might  have  been  partly  imaginary  and 
partly  inspired  by  the  terrible  vindictiveness  that 
Senator  Stewart  felt  for  Johnson.  Enough  to  say 
that  he  was  sworn  in  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  first  great  work  that  the  President  had 
to  deal  with  was  the  trial  and  execution  of  those  who 
had  attempted  the  lives  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  two 
Sewards,  etc.  The  chief  actor,  Wilkes  Booth,  had 
been  shot  to  death  and  therefore  had  passed  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  law.  The  others  were  duly  tried, 
including  Mrs.  Surrat,  and  were  executed  on  the 
ground  which  is  now  known  as  the  War  College  in 
Washington.  Great  efforts  were  made,  which  un 
fortunately  were  not  successful,  to  secure  the  pardon 
of  Mrs.  Surrat,  or  at  least  a  stay  of  her  execution. 
Indeed,  it  is  a  curious  fact  in  history  that  while  the 
demand  for  clemency  came  from  Northern  men  and 
women  largely,  it  was  after  all  President  Johnson 
who  was  inexorable  in  his  determination  to  have  her 
executed.  It  was  a  tactical  and  political  blunder 
from  every  standpoint,  but  as  has  been  shown  in 
the  French  Revolution,  so  at  the  time  this  incident 
happened,  reason  and  mercy  had  practically  been 
dethroned  and  passion  reigned  supreme. 

My  intercourse  with  Mr.  Johnson  from  many  stand 
points  was  of  a  very  pleasant  character.  I  remember 
well  when  he  was  the  guest  of  the  Washington 
"Schuetzenverein,"  which  literally  means  a  target 
association,  which  had  its  annual  festival  to  which 
the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  from  time  to  time 
came  and  were  the  guests  of  honor.  Mr.  Johnson 
claimed  to  be  an  excellent  shot  and  was  taken  to  the 
booth  to  shoot  at  the  target,  and  knowing  as  I  did 
that  even  great  men  can  be  tickled  by  a  straw,  I  had 


52  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

instructed  the  target  master  in  advance,  to  be  sure 
that  when  President  Johnson  had  fired  his  shot,  to 
bring  the  target  showing  that  he  had  hit  the  bull's- 
eye.  He  was  very  much  gratified  at  the  result,  and 
said  jocosely  that  in  all  his  life  he  had  tried  to  hit  the 
bull's-eye,  not  always  as  successfully  as  in  this 
instance. 

I  was  not  an  applicant  or  candidate  for  any  office, 
but  the  President  seemed  to  have  taken  a  liking  to 
me  and  offered  me  the  position  of  Consul  General  to 
Cuba,  which  at  that  time  was  very  tempting  and  of 
more  importance  than  now.  But  I  respectfully  de 
clined,  as  I  did  not  care  to  enter  into  any  political 
office  subject  to  the  whims  and  caprices  of  Presi 
dents  or  politicians.  This  phase  of  thought  became 
a  subject  of  future  revision. 

Mr.  Johnson's  political  course  was  weird  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  Republican  leaders  finally  con 
cluded  to  impeach  him,  and  I  can  best  express  that 
phase  of  his  career  in  the  following  historical  resume 
of  that  event. 

There  have  been  quite  a  number  of  impeachments 
for  high  crimes  and  misdeameanors,  supposed  to 
have  been  perpetrated  by  the  rulers  of  various  coun 
tries.  Charles  I  and  Louis  XVI  were  executed  after 
what  were  declared  to  have  been  fair  and  impartial 
trials.  We  have  been  more  fortunate  in  this  country, 
in  not  having  had  any  of  our  rulers  brought  to  the 
block,  but  we  have  had  an  attempt  to  impeach  a 
President  of  the  United  States,  to  declare  him  unfit 
for  the  position  to  which  he  had  been  chosen,  and 
fortunate  it  was  for  the  nation,  and  for  the  future 
welfare  of  our  people,  that,  at  the  crucial  moment, 
there  were  found  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 


ANDREW  JOHNSON  53 

seven  statesmen  who  separated  from  their  conferees, 
then  in  the  majority,  and  voted  in  opposition  to  pre 
vent  the  impeachment  of  Andrew  Johnson,  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States. 

Those  were  days  of  great  excitement/  The  political 
waves  ran  high,  threatening  to  engulf  the  nation  with 
disaster.  It  required  not  only  wise  statesmanship, 
great  forbearance  and  intellectual  poise,  but  also  a 
steady  hand  to  guide  the  ship  of  state  through  the 
seething  and  surging  torrents  into  the  port  of  safety. 
From  the  day  when  the  committee  on  impeachment 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  filed  into  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  name  of  all  the  people 
of  the  whole  country,  attempted  to  prove  Andrew 
Johnson  guilty  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors, 
up  to  the  day  when  the  Senate  by  a  legal  majority 
declared  the  President  not  guilty,  I  was  constantly 
in  attendance,  morning,  noon  and  night.  I  took  no 
stock  in  the  attempt  of  the  impeachers,  looking  upon 
their  course  as  not  only  momentous  and  fraught  with 
the  greatest  danger  to  the  Republic,  but  also  con 
sidered  it  as  it  has  since  been  proven,  a  step  toward 
Mexicanizing  the  United  States,  and  establishing  a* 
precedent  that  each  and  every  political  party,  when 
disgruntled  or  dissatisfied  with  the  head  of  the  nation, 
could  use  for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  the  will 
of  the  people  to  suit  their  own  political  ideas. 

I  can  see  the  Representatives  of  Congress  filing  into 
the  Senate  now.  There  was  Elihu  B.  Washburn,  of 
Illinois,  one  of  the  famous  Washburn  brothers,  who 
claimed  to  be  the  "inventor"  of  General  Ulysses  S. 
Grant,  having  recommended  him  specially  to  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  and  who  subsequently  for  three  days 
was  Secretary  of  State  under  General  Grant's  first 


54  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

administration,  and  then  Ambassador  to  France, 
where  he  made  a  great  reputation  during  the  Franco- 
German  War  as  being  a  protector  of  the  Germans  in 
France.  Then  came  the  ascetic  Thaddeus  Stevens, 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  was  looked  upon  as  the  great 
commoner,  and  who  exemplified  his  characteristics 
by  his  last  will  and  testament,  in  which  he  desired  to 
be  buried  in  the  negro  cemetery  at  Lancaster,  so  as  to 
be  sure  of  being  among  friends  when  dead,  as  he  had 
been  a  stanch  defender  of  their  rights  when  living. 

Then  came  Governor  George  S.  Boutwell,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  who  afterwards  became  a  Senator  and  later 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  whose  brain  was  all 
aflame  with  that  spirit  of  puritan  indomitable  energy 
that  has  made  the  New  Englander  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  our  history. 

Then  came  John  A.  Bingham,  of  Ohio,  a  great 
jurist,  accomplished  orator,  statesman  and  diplomat, 
finishing  his  career  as  the  representative  of  our  Gov 
ernment  in  Japan  years  after,  and  who  had  the  un 
happy  duty  thrust  upon  him  of  being  the  Judge  Advo 
cate  in  the  historical  trial  of  the  conspirators  in 
Abraham  Lincoln's  assassination.  This  tragic  inci 
dent,  as  Mr.  Bingham  often  afterward  told  me,  was 
a  source  of  the  keenest  sorrow  to  him,  especially  as 
it  involved  the  hanging  of  a  woman.  In  these  days  of 
suffragettes,  where  women  claim  every  privilege,  I 
suppose  there  wouldn't  be  so  much  sympathy. 

The  mention  of  Mr.  Bingham's  name  reminds  me 
of  an  incident  in  my  own  life,  when  years  before  in 
Ohio,  I  was  on  the  witness  stand  in  an  important 
case  involving  a  great  deal  of  property  in  which  rela 
tives  of  mine  were  concerned.  Mr.  Bingham  was  the 
counsel  for  the  plaintiff,  and  had  me  on  the  stand, 


ANDREW  JOHNSON  55 

although  a  mere  lad,  for  two  days,  cross-examining 
me.  At  the  close  of  his  cross-examination,  he  turned 
to  the  judge  and  said,  with  a  great  deal  of  grim 
humor,  "One  thing  is  sure,  your  honor,  this  young 
man  will  rise  to  great  prominence,  either  in  the 
recognition  of  his  fellowmen,  or  by  being  hanged  as 
an  accomplished  liar."  It  is  for  others  to  say  whether 
the  prophecy  of  Mr.  Bingham  has  been  realized. 
One  thing  is  sure,  I  have  not  been  hanged  as  yet. 

Then  came  the  mighty  warrior,  Major  General 
John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois,  whose  every  impulse  was 
to  fight  for  that  which  he  conceived  to  be  right,  and 
whose  raven  locks  and  swarthy  face  gave  no  indica 
tion  of  that  spirit  of  fairness  and  mercy  which  were 
the  pulsating  beats  of  his  generous  heart. 

Then  came  Major  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
whose  personality  has  already  been  described  in  the 
Lincoln  sketch. 

A  NOTABLE  GROUP  OF  MEN 

In  the  Senate  itself  there  was  a  notable  group  of 
men,  whose  names  have  gone  down  into  our  political 
history,  presided  over  by  the  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  whose  political  am 
bition  had  been  crushed  and  who  was  soured  in 
temper  by  the  seeming  ingratitude  of  the  Republic 
and  the  stupidity  of  his  political  admirers.  No  man 
in  our  history  died  more  disappointed  than  did  the 
great  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  Chief  Justice, 
whose  name  and  fame  had  been  a  rallying  cry  for 
abolitionists  and  Republicans,  and  it  was  bitter  for 
him  to  sit  there  and  see  the  possible  outcome  of  a 
President  deposed  for  the  benefit  of  one  whom  he 
intensely  hated,  to  wit,  Benjamin  Franklin  Wade, 


56  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

of  Ohio,  the  acting  Vice  President  of   the  United 
States. 

Wade  was  the  constant  target  of  each  and  every 
one,  for  he  was  to  be  the  residuary  legatee  of  this 
tragedy.  I  knew  Wade  well  in  the  old  days  in  Ohio, 
esteemed  him  highly  as  a  sincere  and  public-spirited 
patriotic  American,  but  he  was  a  bitter,  malignant 
partisan,  who  never  could  see  any  good  in  any  one 
opposed  to  him,  and  thus  his  judgment  was  warped, 
and  his  most  generous  impulses  were  also  more  or 
less  tinctured  with  that  spirit  of  acrimony  born  in 
partisanship.  And  there  sat  the  mighty  Olympus  of 
the  Senate,  Charles  Sumner,  of  Massachusetts,  whose 
frown  was  potential,  whose  utterances  were  domi 
nant,  who  combined  the  classic  oratory  of  Cicero 
with  the  scholarship  of  Bacon,  but  whose  character 
istics  are  summed  up  in  an  anecdote  of  President 
Grant's,  who,  when  told  that  Sumner  did  not  believe 
in  the  Bible,  sententiously  said:  "How  could  he;  he 
did  not  write  it?" 

GIANTS  OF  THE  SENATE 

There  were  mighty  giants  in  both  branches  of 
Congress,  but  notably  in  the  Senate,  where  the  leaders 
of  a  great  party,  who  had  been  prominent  figures  in 
the  Civil  War,  represented  the  various  States.  There 
sat  men  whose  names  have  become  a  household  word 
in  the  political  history  of  our  country;  such  as  Sher 
man,  of  Ohio;  Chandler,  of  Michigan;  Conkling  and 
Morgan,  of  New  York;  Wilson,  the  Natick  cobbler 
of  Massachusetts,  afterward  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States;  Morrill,  of  Maine,  and  Morrill,  of  Ver 
mont;  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania;  Conness,  of  Cali 
fornia;  Drake,  of  Missouri;  Edmunds*  of  Vermont; 


ANDREW   JOHNSON  57 

Harlan,  of  Iowa,  father-in-law  of  Robert  T.  Lincoln; 
the  great  war  Governor  of  Indiana,  Morton;  Pome- 
roy,  of  Kansas;  Stewart,  of  Nevada;  Williams,  of 
Oregon,  afterward  Attorney  General  under  Grant's 
administration;  Governor  Yates,  of  Illinois;  Bayard, 
of  Delaware,  afterward  Secretary  of  State  under* 
Cleveland;  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  afterward  Vice 
President,  and  others  too  numerous  to  mention. 

From  all  parts  of  the  United  States  people  flocked 
into  the  nation's  capital  to  watch  with  eager  interest 
and  keen  anxiety  the  outcome  of  this  great  historical, 
epoch-making  event.  There  was  no  such  thing  as 
night  time.  The  hotels  were  crowded.  Caucuses 
were  being  held  from  right  to  left;  intrigue  vied  with 
intrigue.  Fair  women  threw  their  blandishments 
into  the  scale,  and  the  very  air  was  surcharged  with 
sulphuric  vapor  that  threatened  to  stifle  the  very 
heart  of  the  nation. 

PRESIDENT  JOHNSON'S  COUNSEL 

The  counsel  for  the  President,  Henry  M.  Stansbury, 
William  M.  Evarts  and  William  S.  Groesbeck,  were 
the  best  that  the  nation  could  afford.  Henry  M. 
Stansbury,  at  one  time  Attorney  General  of  the 
United  States,  was  a  son-in-law  of  the  elder  Thomas 
Ewing,  and  a  brother-in-law  of  the  junior  Thomas 
Ewing.  In  this  connection,  I  am  also  reminded  of 
an  anecdote.  When  Thomas  Corwin,  the  greatest 
political  stump  speaker  of  our  history,  was  seated  in 
his  office  one  day,  Thomas  Ewing,  Jr.,  came  to  him 
and  asked  him  to  assist  in  trying  a  case  in  court. 
Corwin  said:  "Why  nonsense,  your  father  is  the 
greatest  lawyer  in  the  country,  your  brother-in-law, 
Stansbury,  stands  equal  to  the  best,  and  you're  no 


58  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

slouch  yourself.  What  do  you  want  me  for?"  And 
Thomas  Ewing,  Jr.,  replied:  "We  don't  want  you 
very  much  so  far  as  your  legal  services  are  con 
cerned — we  need  you  to  play  the  buffoon  to  the 
jury." 

William  M.  Evarts,  of  New  York,  whose  wonderful 
ability  is  universally  recognized  and  whose  state 
papers  made  an  important  era  in  the  department 
over  which  he  so  eminently  presided,  was  afterward 
Secretary  of  State  and  United  States  Senator.  I  re 
member  John  Sherman  telling  an  anecdote  about 
Mr.  Evarts.  A  committee  from  New  York  called  on 
Mr.  Evarts,  asking  him  to  speak  at  a  certain  func 
tion,  but  requested  that  he  would  not  indulge  in  the 
long  sentences  to  which  he  was  universally  addicted. 
To  which  Mr.  Evarts  replied,  "Criminals  never  do 
like  long  sentences."  William  S.  Groesbeck  made 
the  most  important  argument  in  that  famous  trial. 

The  headquarters  for  the  counsel  of  the  President 
was  the  famous  hostelry,  Welcker's,  which  was  oppo 
site  the  residence  of  the  imperious  Senator  from  New 
York,  Roscoe  Conkling,  and  the  German  Minister 
Baron  Gerolt,  the  great  friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Welcker's  was  as  well  known  in  its  day  as  Delmoni- 
co's  in  New  York  is  now.  Many  a  famous  dinner 
was  given  there  by  parties  interested  in  party  and 
political  legislation.  The  famous  Samuel  Ward, 
whom  Crawford  has  immortalized  in  one  of  his 
novels,  and  who  was  a  relative  of  his,  gave  many  a 
royal  feast  to  those  engaged  in  matters  in  which  he 
took  a  deep  interest.  During  the  whole  trial,  Welck 
er's  was  the  center  of  attraction,  and  the  newspaper 
correspondents  outclassed  themselves  in  vain  at 
tempts  to  get  information  from  the  counsel  or  from 


ANDREW  JOHNSON  59 

statesmen  who  were  visiting.  After  this  great  event, 
when  Charles  Dickens  visited  Washington  and  gave 
a  course  of  readings,  he  was  a  guest  at  Welcker's, 
and  one  night,  or  rather  morning,  at  a  dinner  given 
by  me  in  his  honor,  he  expressed  the  greatest  interest 
in  the  historical  events  that  had  had  their  founda 
tion  at  the  hotel  at  which  he  was  stopping.  I  re 
member  a  witticism  of  Dickens,  when  one  of  the 
guests  asked  him  whether  he  had  ever  seen  the  sun 
rise,  and  his  reply  was,  "Often,  when  I  went  to  bed." 

THE  IMPEACHMENT  TRIAL 

The  trial  dragged  its  weary  length  from  day  to  day, 
and  excitement,  bitter  political  rancor,  animosity, 
crimination  and  recrimination  grew  until  at  last  the 
fateful  hour  came  for  a  vote,  John  A.  Bingham,  of 
Ohio,  having  made  the  closing  argument  for  the 
plaintiff.  His  peroration  still  rings  in  my  ears. 
Great  applause  followed  its  close,  and  those  who  are 
not  conversant  with  the  effect  of  his  speech  might 
have  supposed  that  the  doom  of  the  defendant  was 
sealed,  but  as  has  been  proven  time  and  again  in  the 
campaigns  of  Bryan  and  McKinley,  and  Bryan  and 
Roosevelt,  the  one  got  all  the  applause  and  the  others 
were  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 
It  was  to  me  as  if  the  heart  of  the  nation  stood  still, 
waiting  on  the  words  "yes"  or  "no."  You  could 
scarcely  drop  a  pin  in  that  vast  audience  without  its 
being  heard.  Every  eye  centered  on  the  Senators 
as  their  names  were  pronounced,  who  were  to  estab 
lish  once  and  for  all  a  precedent  for  the  perpetuity 
or  the  destruction  of  the  Republic. 

Names  were  called  and  a  vote  was  given.  "Aye" 
for  the  plaintiff,  "no"  for  the  defendant.  The  cru- 


60  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

cial  moment  came  when  the  name  of  William  Pitt 
Fessenden,  of  Maine,  was  pronounced.  It  had  been 
an  open  secret  for  days  that  Mr.  Fessenden,  with  his 
wonderful  grasp  of  statesmanship  and  sound  reason 
ing,  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  President  John 
son  was  not  guilty  of  the  crimes  charged  and  that 
he  would  vote  "no."  In  his  lithe  and  slim  figure  there 
was  not  the  slightest  tremor  of  excitement,  but  calm 
as  justice,  impenetrable  as  fate,  he  pronounced  the 
magic  word  "no."  There  was  a  throb  throughout 
the  vast  Senate  chamber,  and  each  and  every  one 
felt  that  that  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  Fowler, 
of  Tennessee  came  next,  and  voted  "no."  Grimes, 
of  Iowa,  answered  "no."  Henderson,  of  Missouri; 
Trumbull,  of  Illinois;  Ross,  of  Kansas,  and  Van 
Winkle,  of  West  Virginia,  followed  in  close  succes 
sion,  and  fearlessly  voted  "no,"  and  as  the  last  name 
was  pronounced,  the  true  friends  of  the  Republic 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief,  while  those  who  claimed 
to  be  equally  true  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Re 
public  were  frantic  in  their  denunciation,  charging 
conspiracy,  bribery  and  corruption.  And  yet  these 
seven  immortals  above  named  will  stand  in  the 
annals  of  our  country  as  the  great  apostles  of  reason, 
of  statesmanship  and  of  the  true  conception  of  a 
Republic.  It  was  only  the  other  day  that  the  last  of 
the  seven  was  summoned  to  eternal  rest,  John  R. 
Henderson,  of  Missouri.  And  what  was  the  political 
fate  of  all  these  seven  men?  Their  fate  was  the  fate 
that  is  meted  out  by  ungrateful  people  and  Republics. 
They  were  hounded,  denounced,  pilloried  and  looked 
upon  as  traitors,  not  only  to  their  party,  but  to  their 
country.  Time  has  vindicated  their  judgment,  and 
placed  them  on  that  pinnacle  where  they  so  justly 


ANDREW  JOHNSON  61 

and  rightly  belong.  Henderson  was  admonished  by 
letters,  telegrams  and  personal  visits  from  his  con 
stituents  in  Missouri,  that  he  would  be  "a  political 
dead  duck"  if  he  voted  against  impeachment,  and 
Henderson  made  the  famous  reply:  "Clay  said  he 
would  rather  be  right  than  to  be  President;  I  would 
rather  do  right  than  be  Senator,"  and  with  that  dec 
laration  he  signed  his  political  death  warrant. 

And  finally,  was  Andrew  Johnson  guilty  of  the 
crimes  and  misdeameanors  charged  against  him? 
Had  they  been  leveled  at  any  ordinary  individual 
there  would  not  have  been  a  question  of  the  utter 
disregard  by  any  one  of  the  allegations  made  against 
him,  but  being  President  of  the  United  States,  who 
had  gone  back  on  what  were  supposed  to  be  pledges 
of  political  fealty,  he  became  the  target,  and  would 
have  fallen  from  his  high  office  had  it  not  been  for 
the  seven  immortals.  Andrew  Johnson  was,  as  so 
many  of  our  great  Americans  have  been,  a  man  of 
the  people,  who  had  risen  to  eminence  from  ob 
scurity,  and  who,  living  in  a  state  that  was  over-run 
with  sentiment  of  secession,  in  the  most  crucial  hour 
of  our  country's  history,  the  Civil  War,  stood  firm  as 
the  Rock  of  Ghickamauga  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  and  took  his  life  in  his  hands  as  Governor  of 
Tennessee  and  commander  of  a  part  of  the  army, 
to  evidence  his  patriotism  and  belief  in  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States.  I  know  of  no  more 
wonderful  episode  than  the  one  which  I  witnessed 
when,  long  after,  the  State  of  Tennessee  returned 
him  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  he  became 
the  comrade  of  many  of  the  men  who  had  at  one 
time  voted  to  disgrace  and  dethrone  him.  I  sin 
cerely  believe  that  Andrew  Johnson  was  thoroughly 


62  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

honest  and  patriotic,  and  when  those  who  traduced 
and  maligned  him  were  criticising  even  Abraham 
Lincoln,  Andrew  Johnson  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  his  fellow  compatriots  fighting  for  the  preserva 
tion  of  the  Union. 


ULYSSES   S.  GRANT 
1869-1877 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

During  and  after  the  impeachment  trial  of  Presi 
dent  Johnson  the  Republican  leaders  had  selected 
General  Grant  as  his  political  successor;  his  nomina 
tion  was  not  a  surprise  and  his  renomination  was  a 
logical  result  of  the  opposition  and  venomous  attacks 
he  had  to  endure.  In  both  campaigns  I  participated, 
making  speeches  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
notably  Ohio  and  Indiana.  This  campaigning  made 
life  friendships  and  gave  me  valuable  education. 
When  you  have  Democracy  looking  up  at  you  it  is 
the  most  exciting  moment  of  a  speaker's  career  and 
makes  the  blood  tingle  in  every  vein.  The  hustings 
are  the  political  schools  of  the  nation;  all  of  our  great 
statesmen  and  orators  owe  their  fame  to  this  valu 
able  adjunct. 

Ghauncey  M.  Depew,  at  one  of  the  dinners  given  by 
the  Ohio  Society  of  New  York,  made  this  memorable 
statement :  "Some  men  are  born  great,  others  achieve 
greatness,  and  some  are  born  in  Ohio."  It  can  be 
truthfully  stated  that  two  of  these  observations  are 
undoubtedly  true  of  the  man  about  whom  I  am  writ 
ing  this  sketch — Ulysses  S.  Grant  achieved  greatness, 
and  was  born  in  Ohio. 

It  was  at  Willard's  Hotel  that  I  had  the  first  glimpse 
of  General  Grant.  I  confess  that  he  did  not  impress 
me  as  being  anything  extraordinary,  an  opinion  that 
was  shared  then  by  a  large  number  of  his  country 
men,  but  which  time  and  experience  completely  dis 
pelled.  I  did  not  see  him  again  until  the  great  re 
view  of  May  24  and  25,  1865,  after  the  war  was  over. 
I  occupied  then  an  office  prominently  situated,  to  wit, 
at  the  corner  of  Seventh  street  and  Pennsylvania 


64  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

avenue,  over  the  Central  National  Bank,  and  there 
fore  had  a  splendid  opportunity  to  see  that  great 
historic  pageant.  Grant  on  that  day  represented  in 
his  outward  demeanor  an  absolute  repose,  the  tem 
per  and  spirit  of  the  American  people,  calm  yet  firm, 
deliberate  and  assertive.  There  was  no  vindictive- 
ness  in  his  face;  the  fires  that  lighted  up  his  eyes 
were  not  those  of  grim  satisfaction  at  being  the  con 
queror,  but  rather  those  of  a  man  who  was  pleased 
to  know  that  the  country  was  once  more  united  and 
that  the  war,  with  all  its  horrors,  had  ceased.  There 
was  nothing  of  the  Roman  Caesar  manifest;  on  the 
contrary,  the  loftiest  spirit  of  civilization  which  per 
meates  and  dominates  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

From  that  time  on  for  several  years,  I  had  frequent 
opportunities  of  meeting  General  Grant,  and  I  knew 
that  in  due  course  of  time  he  would  unquestionably 
be  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party  for  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  I  was  most  anxious  to  get 
at  the  inside  history  of  "Order  No.  11,"  which  bore 
his  signature  and  which  had  caused  feelings  of  indig 
nation  throughout  the  United  States  on  the  part  of 
those  American  citizens  who  were  of  the  Jewish 
faith.  That  Order,  if  inspired  or  dictated  by  General 
Grant,  would  have  stamped  him  with  extreme  liberal 
ity  as  having  an  utter  want  of  appreciation  of  the 
real  duties  of  an  American  commander-in-chief. 

From  what  I  had  read  and  knew  of  General  Grant 
as  a  public  character,  and  what  little  I  had  seen  of 
him  personally,  I  felt  confident  that  an  erroneous 
impression  existed  and  that  injustice  had  been  done 
the  General  and  his  great  reputation.  It  was  a  very 


ULYSSES    S.   GRANT  65 

delicate  matter,  inasmuch  as  a  great  deal  of  public 
comment  had  been  made,  some  of  the  newspapers, 
then  as  now,  rushing  heedlessly  and  needlessly  into 
print  without  a  full  knowledge  of  the  facts.  I  there 
fore  approached  General  Badeau,  a  member  of  his 
staff,  also  General  Horace  Porter,  with  whom  I  was 
on  quite  intimate  terms,  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
at  the  true  inwardness  of  that  Order,  and  received  the 
following  letter,  under  date  of  April  22,  1868: 

"Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 
"DEAR  SIR: 

"General  Grant  directs  me  to  acknowledge  the  re 
ceipt  of  your  letter  of  April  14,  in  which  you  allude 
to  an  order  issued  By  him  in  1862  'banishing  the  Jews 
from  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee,'  and  in  which 
you  'most  respectfully  ask  as  an  American  citizen 
and  an  Israelite,  whether  this  order  was  intended 
then  or  since  to  reflect  in  any  way  or  manner  on  the 
Jews  as  a  class  or  whether  it  was  not  an  order  di 
rected  simply  against  certain  evil  designing  persons, 
whose  religion,  however,  was  in  no  way  material 
to  the  issue.'  While  General  Grant  is  extremely 
anxious  to  avoid  thrusting  himself  into  anything 
approaching  a  controversy  on  such  a  matter,  he  yet 
can  not  fail  to  observe  the  cordial  tone  and  spirit 
of  your  note,  and  out  of  respect  to  that,  he  instructs 
me  to  say  that  the  order  was  as  you  suppose  'di 
rected  simply  against  evil  designing  persons  whose 
religion  was  in  no  way  material  to  the  issue.'  When 
it  was  made,  the  guilty  parties  happened  to  be  Israel 
ites  exclusively,  and  it  was  intended  to  reach  the 
guilty  parties,  not  to  wound  the  feelings  of  any 


66  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

others.  It  would  have  been  made  just  as  stringent 
against  any  other  class  of  individuals,  religious,  polit 
ical  or  commercial. 

"I  am,  Sir,  very  respectfully, 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"ADAM  BADEAU." 

I  was  not  fully  satisfied  with  this,  and  again  wrote, 
to  which  General  Badeau  replied  as  follows : 

"March,  1868. 
"My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

"I  have  brought  your  request  to  the  attention  of 
General  Grant,  and  while  he  would  like  very  much 
indeed  to  comply  therewith,  yet  he  fears  that  any 
statement  made  by  him  would  be  misconstrued  by 
the  general  public.  He  therefore  prefers  not  to  make 
any  explanation  other  than  that  you  have  already 
received.  He  desires  me  to  express  his  hearty  and 
sincere  appreciation  of  the  interest  you  have  taken, 
knowing  that  your  motives  are  actuated  by  friend 
ship  and  a  desire  to  do  justice  not  only  to  himself, 
but  to  the  people  whom  you  so  worthily  represent. 

"Very  truly  yours, 

"ADAM  BADEAU/' 

This  gives  emphasis  to  another  feature  of  General 
Grant's  character  which  has  not  been  sufficiently 
commented  upon,  that  is,  his  absolute  unselfishness 
and  extreme  modesty.  He  preferred  to  suffer  under 
the  stigma  of  reproach  and  misunderstanding  rather 
than  have  the  public  believe  that  at  that  juncture  he 
was  catering  for  the  good  wishes  and  possible  votes 
of  American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith.  After  his  elec- 


ULYSSES    S.    GRANT  67 

tion,  I  asked  General  Badeau  for  permission  to  pub 
lish  the  correspondence,  and  received  the  following 
letter,  dated  December  11, 1868: 

"My  Dear  Sir: 

"I  can  see  no  reason  why  the  letter  I  wrote  you 
last  summer  relative  to  General  Grant's  Order  No.  11, 
should  not  be  published,  as  you  request. 

"Very  respectfully  yours, 

"ADAM  BADEAU." 

After  General  Grant's  nomination,  while  visiting 
in  Boston,  I  published  in  the  Transcript  of  that  city, 
the  following  letter,  which  was  copied  all  over  the 
United  States: 

THE  JEWS  AND  GENERAL  GRANT 
To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  BOSTON  TRANSCRIPT  : 

In  the  Boston  Post  of  Wednesday  an  article  ap 
peared  headed  "Grant  and  the  Jewish  Vote,"  signed 
by  "Max."  I  do  not  know  who  Max  is,  whether  he  is 
an  Israelite  or  a  Mohammedan,  not  being  material; 
but  to  his  conclusions  I  entirely  object,  as  being  illog 
ical,  erroneous,  and  decidedly  anti-Jewish. 

No  one,  even  the  General,  denies  that  the  order  was 
prescriptive,  but  in  one  sense  not  uncalled  for.  The 
General  never  meant  then,  since,  or  now,  to  pro 
scribe  the  Jews  because  they  were  such,  but  simply 
to  banish  from  his  camp  the  Lazzaroni  who  infested 
it.  Unfortunately  the  order  was  ill-worded,  but  that 
is  no  reason  why  American  citizens  should  be  be 
trayed  from  their  allegiance  to  principles,  and  turn 
to  a  party  that  advocated  the  reverse  of  what  is  right 
and  true. 


68  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

I  protest  in  the  name  of  enlightened  Judaism 
against  this  dragooning  system  and  continually  harp 
ing  on  the  "old  ancient  grudge." 

We  are  not  Jews  in  any  political  sense.  We  are, 
what  is  of  far  more  value,  American  citizens,  and  as 
such  can  and  will  vote  for  the  candidate  of  our  party, 
be  that  Grant  or  Seymour.  The  ages  of  persecution 
have  passed  into  oblivion,  but  the  lessons  taught  have 
not  been  lost,  for  we  know  that  here,  free  as  the  air, 
we  breathe,  we  can  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  conscience,  that  we  owe  no  allegiance  to 
class,  and  that  the  fostering  of  prejudice  and  the 
accursed  spirit  of  exclusiveness  that  have  marked 
our  race  should  cease  and  forever,  being  detrimental 
to  the  development  of  free  thought  and  true  progress. 

Accursed  will  be  the  day  when  Jews  as  a  class 
commit  the  unpardonable  crime  of  becoming  sec 
tarian  in  their  politics,  Know-Nothings  among  Amer 
icans.  If  such  a  thing  should  come  to  pass  I  wish  to 
place  my  protest  on  record,  for  no  matter  how  much 
of  an  error  Gen.  Grant  or  anyone  else  may  have  com 
mitted,  I  will  not  forget  what  I  owe  the  country  that 
has  fostered  and  protected  me  in  the  exercise  of 
free  thought.  I  will  not  forget  that  if  oppression  and 
prejudice  have  overtaken  us,  they  were  mainly 
attributable  to  the  very  sectarian  spirit  that  is  here 
sought  to  be  perpetuated. 

You,  Mr.  Max,  or  any  other  Israelite,  can  in  your 
individual  capacity  as  American  citizens,  vote  and 
speak  against  Gen.  Grant — that  is  one  of  your  in 
alienable  rights  and  privileges;  but  forbear  to  use  it 
in  a  religious  sense. 

I  know  General  Grant  and  his  motives,  have  cor 
responded  with  him  on  this  very  subject,  and  assert 


ULYSSES    S.   GRANT  69 

unhesitatingly  that  he  never  intended  to  insult  any 
honorable  Jew,  that  he  never  thought  of  their  re 
ligion;  that  the  order  was  simply  directed  "against 
certain  evil  designing  persons,  who  respected  neither 
law  nor  order,  and  who  were  endangering  the  morale 
of  the  army."  General  Grant  is  not  the  only  man 
who,  during  the  war,  committed  wrongs  against  the 
holiest  rights.  Fremont,  Burnside,  even  the  lamented 
Lincoln,  were  not  free  from  them,  and  Congress  had 
to  legalize,  subsequently,  acts  performed  against  the 
plainest  rules  of  law  and  justice;  but  the  emergencies 
of  the  time  made  them  necessary,  and  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  race,  ever  ready  to  defend  their  principles, 
suffered  these  wrongs  because  they  were  necessary 
to  the  preservation  of  the  Republic. 

Having  lived  in  Washington  for  the  last  six  years, 
I  know  how  many  of  our  people  were  indifferent  to 
the  cause,  and  how  many  only  cared  for  the  spoils. 
This  they  had,  however,  in  common  with  other  per 
sons,  and  I  took  occasion  to  defend  my  race  against 
cruel  aspersions  and  uncalled  for  prejudice;  but  yet 
I  could  not  shut  my  eyes  to  the  fact  that  hundreds 
infested  the  camps  who  were  spies,  blockade  run 
ners,  etc.,  who,  owing  no  allegiance  to  the  Govern 
ment,  having  ever  a  passport  near,  endangered  the 
army,  laughed  at  army  regulations  and  orders,  and 
when  caught  attempted  to  bribe  their  way  to  free 
dom.  This  was  a  state  of  things  highly  demoraliz 
ing,  and  the  General  in  a  moment  of  just  indignation, 
in  an  hour  of  great  peril,  issued  this  order,  never 
contemplating  any  wrong  against  honest,  patriotic 
Jewish-American  citizens. 

The  order  never  harmed  me — never  harmed  any- 


70  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

one,  not  even  in  thought,  except  those  whom  we  as 
Jews  despise  and  hold  in  contempt. 

It  would  be  perfect  folly  to  suppose  for  a  moment 
that  the  Jews  have  found  in  Grant  another  Titus, 
for  he  is  fully  aware  of  the  noble  deeds  performed 
by  thousands  of  Jewish  privates,  and  hundreds  of 
Jewish  officers  during  the  late  war;  and  I  know  that 
some  of  his  warmest  friends,  even  in  Washington, 
are  Jews.  The  bugbear  of  what  he  may  do  when  he 
becomes  President  is  childish.  He  will  do  his  duty 
as  the  law  and  the  will  of  the  people,  through  their 
chosen  representatives,  prescribe;  no  more — no  less. 

This  great  love,  all  at  once  exhibited  by  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  or  any  other  party,  this  great  tolerance 
prated  about  by  Christians  for  Jews,  is  simply  absurd. 
We  are  not  Jews  except  to  God;  we  are  to  the  coun 
try  what  Mr.  Smith,  Mr.  Jones  or  Mr.  Brown  are — 
citizens.  We  seek  no  tolerance  from  anyone,  in  this 
age  of  progress  and  ennobling  humanity.  Tolerance 
is  for  slaves,  not  for  Americans. 

SIMON  WOLF. 
Boston,  August  6,  1868. 

It  proved  satisfactory  to  the  majority  of  the  people 
to  whom  it  was  addressed,  although  I  have  no  doubt 
there  are  still  some  who  believe  that  Grant  was 
actuated  and  inspired  by  Rishus  (prejudice) ;  in  other 
words,  who  cannot  alienate  themselves  from  the 
feelings  engendered  by  the  Civil  War.  After  his  elec 
tion,  I  had  a  long  and  interesting  conversation  with 
him,  and  then  for  the  first  time  he  told  me  that  he 
had  had  absolutely  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
said  order;  there  were  official  blanks  at  the  head 
quarters,  just  as  there  are  official  blanks  in  the  differ- 


ULYSSES   S.   GRANT  71 

ent  courts,  in  the  one  case  having  the  name  of  the 
General  printed  and  in  the  other  that  of  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  were  used  in 
making  orders;  that  said  Order  No.  11  had  been 
issued  from  headquarters  upon  the  report  made  by 
General  Sherman,  who  had  complained  that  there 
were  a  large  number  of  citizens,  notably  Jewish,  who 
were  violating  the  rules  and  laws  of  war  in  running 
the  blockade  and  in  purchasing  cotton  contrary  to 
legislation,  and  that  it  was  demoralizing  and  proving 
very  injurious  to  the  service;  in  consequence  of 
which,  in  the  absence  of  General  Grant,  the  order 
was  made  by  one  of  the  staff  officers,  but  unfortu 
nately  bore  the  name  of  the  General,  and  he  never 
would  state  the  facts  as  here  given,  simply  because 
he  dip!  not  wish  anyone,  as  he  stated,  to  suppose  that 
he  was  seeking  public  applause;  he  would  rather 
suffer  in  silence. 

The  facts  were  also  substantiated  by  the  records. 
But  his  subsequent  conduct  during  the  eight  years 
of  his  incumbency  as  President  gave  the  lie  to  all 
insinuations  and  innuendoes  that  had  been  made 
against  the  integrity  and  liberality  of  Ulysses  S. 
Grant.  Assertions  and  beliefs  amount  to  nothing; 
facts  tell  on  the  pages  of  history,  and  I  here  distinctly 
state  that  during  those  years  President  Grant  did 
more  on  and  in  behalf  of  American  citizens  of  Jewish 
faith,  at  home  and  abroad,  than  all  the  Presidents  of 
the  United  States  prior  thereto  or  since.  This  may 
seem  almost  incredible,  but  I  speak  by  the  card.  No 
one  during  that  time,  except  those  immediately  sur 
rounding  him  or  the  members  of  Iris  Cabinet,  saw 
President  Grant  oftener  than  myself,  whether  fortu 
nately  or  unfortunately,  having  been  appointed  by 


72  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

him  as  Recorder  of  Deeds  for  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  a  position  which  I  did  not  seek  nor  covet  and  to 
which  I  was  appointed  in  my  absence  from  the  city 
at  the  instance  of  General  Rawlings,  Secretary  of 
War. 

I  was  seated  with  Mr.  Julius  Bien,  of  New  York, 
at  the  Astor  House  when  the  afternoon  papers  were 
brought  in,  and  there  for  the  first  time  I  was  made 
aware  of  my  appointment.  I  fully  determined  on 
returning  to  Washington  to  decline  the  honor,  but 
discovered  to  my  regret  that  a  protest  had  been  filed 
with  the  Senate  Committee  on  the  District  of  Colum 
bia  on  the  score  that  I  was  a  Jew.  They  did  not 
question  my  manhood,  my  morals  or  my  Republican 
ism,  but  solely  on  the  old,  old  cry  of  not  being  a 
Christian.  Realizing  that  there  was  a  principle  at 
stake,  and  that  if  I  was  confirmed  I  could  always  re 
sign,  I  made  the  fight  before  the  committee,  of  which 
former  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  the  Hon. 
Hannibal  Hamlin,  was  chairman,  and  I  am  happy  to 
say  that  I  was  unanimously  confirmed.  Unfortu 
nately,  illness  in  my  family  prompted  me  to  continue 
holding  the  office,  which  I  did  from  April,  '69,  until 
May,  '78,  about  which  I  will  speak  in  the  sketch  on 
President  Hayes.  How  often  have  I  been  compelled 
to  speak  of  this  cowardly  opposition  on  the  part  of 
certain  people  to  those  who  happen  to  differ  from 
them  in  their  ideas  of  faith.  In  a  Republic  such  as 
ours,  men  are  not  appointed  on  account  of  their  re 
ligion,  but  on  account  of  their  party  fealty  and  merit. 
Any  other  course  would  be  detrimental  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  Republic. 

The  first  time  I  saw  the  President  after  my  con 
firmation,  he  said,  "You  have  been  so  highly  recom- 


ULYSSES    S.    GRANT  73 

mended  by  General  Rawlings,  whose  judgment  is 
almost  infallible,  that  I  rely  on  you  never  to  deceive 
me.  I  learn  that  you  represent  your  co-religionists, 
that  you  also  stand  well  with  the  German-American 
element.  I  may  want  to  see  and  consult  you  often; 
when  I  can  no  longer  trust  you,  I  shall  ask  for  your 
resignation."  He  never  did,  not  even  when  under 
temporary  fire.  That  wras  General  Grant's  strength- 
unfailing  trust  in  those  in  whom  he  confided,  the  men 
who  had  been  his  comrades  on  the  line  of  battle, 
whose  courage  he  had  tested,  were  steeled  to  him 
against  all  attacks.  Unfortunately,  some  betrayed 
that  trust,  but  the  General  never  complained. 

Thus  I  became  officially  connected  with  the  admin 
istration  of  my  choice.  Being  identified  with  the 
Republican  party,  looked  upon,  whether  justly  or 
not,  as  a  representative  German  and  Jewish  Ameri 
can  citizen,  resident  of  Washington,  there  naturally 
poured  in  upon  me  from  every  part  of  the  United 
States,  petitions,  applications  and  requests  for  office 
under  the  general  government,  for  pardons  of  persons 
who  had  deserted  from  the  army;  for  the  restoration 
of  minors  who  had  enlisted  without  the  consent  of 
their  parents;  for  violators  of  law  who  had  been  sent 
innocently  in  several  instances  to  prison;  to  aid  in 
securing  American  representation  in  Roumania;  to 
prevent  the  exportation  of  American  arms  during 
the  French-German  War;  to  secure  the  immediate 
and  prompt  good  offices  of  our  government  so  as  to 
prevent  the  wholesale  deportation  of  Jews  from 
Russia;  to  have  the  President  as  our  guest  through 
the  means  of  my  invitation  time  and  again  at  the 
annual  festivals  of  the  Washington  Schuetzen  Verein, 
at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  and  the  dedication 


74  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

of  the  Steuben  monument,  which  is  now  standing  in 
front  of  the  Good  Hope  Orphan  Asylum,  in  Anacostia, 
D.  C.;  at  the  dedication  of  the  Jewish  Orthodox 
Synagogue  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  G  Streets,  at 
which  the  Rev.  George  Jacobs,  of  Philadelphia,  offi 
ciated;  at  the  fair  in  aid  of  the  sufferers  of  the 
German-French  War;  and  indeed  on  numerous  occa 
sions  where  his  presence  gladdened  one  and  all  and 
where  he  ever  bore  himself  with  a  simplicity  most 
charming. 

He  was  so  much  impressed  at  one  time  with  the 
zither  players  and  Tyrolean  singers  whom  he  saw 
and  heard  at  the  Schuetzen  Park  that  he  asked  me  to 
bring  them  next  day  to  the  White  House  so  that  Mrs. 
Grant  could  hear  them  also.  Of  course  these  per 
formers  were  highly  elated  at  the  honor  accorded 
them,  and  the  next  day  I  took  them  to  the  White 
House,  and  soon  every  employe  and  official  connected 
with  the  White  House  listened  to  the  music  and 
songs  of  the  Tyrol.  Much  to  our  surprise  and  pleas 
ure,  the  President  himself  came  in,  although  as  is 
well  known,  he  cared  very  little  for  music  of  any 
kind  except  military,  yet  he  seemed  to  again  heartily 
enjoy  the  occasion,  as  he  had  done  the  day  previous. 

It  is  proper  in  this  connection  to  reproduce  the 
conversation  had  with  President  Grant  when  Benja 
min  F.  Peixotto  and  myself  called  upon  him  after 
Mr.  Peixotto  had  been  appointed  as  Consul  to  Rou- 
mania.  The  President  uttered  the  following  words: 

"Respect  for  human  rights  is  the  first  duty  of  those 
set  as  rulers  over  nations,  and  the  humbler,  poorer 
or  more  abject  and  miserable  the  people  be,  be  they 
white  or  black,  Jew  or  Christian,  the  greater  should 
be  the  concern  of  those  in  authority  to  extend  pro- 


ULYSSES   S.   GRANT  75 

tection,  to  rescue  and  redeem  them  and  to  raise  them 
up  to  an  equality  with  the  most  enlightened.  The 
story  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Hebrews  of  Roumania 
profoundly  touches  every  sensibility  of  our  nature. 
It  is  one  long  series  of  outrage  and  wrong,  and  even 
if  there  be  exaggeration  in  the  accounts  which  have 
reached  us,  enough  is  evident  to  prove  the  imperative 
duty  of  all  civilized  nations  to  extend  their  moral 
aid  in  behalf  of  a  people  so  unhappy.  Prince  Charles 
and  his  ministers  and  the  public  men  of  that  coun 
try  may  be  brought  to  see  that  the  future  of  their 
nation  lies  in  a  direction  totally  opposite  to  these 
laws,  and  persecutions,  whether  great  or  petty,  which 
have  hitherto  so  invidiously  marked  its  character. 
It  is  not  by  Chinese  walls  or  Spanish  expatriation 
that  nations  can  hope  to  make  progress  in  our  day. 
I  have  no  doubt  your  presence  and  influence,  to 
gether  with  the  efforts  of  your  colleagues  of  the  great 
powers  with  whom,  in  this  matter,  you  will  always 
be  prompt  to  act,  will  result  in  mitigating  the  evils 
complained  of  and  end  in  terminating  them.  The 
United  States,  knowing  no  difference  between  her 
citizens  on  account  of  religion  or  nativity,  naturally 
believes  in  a  civilization  the  world  over  which  will 
secure  the  same  universal  views." 

The  substance  of  this,  commencing  with  the  words 
"the  United  States,"  was  embodied  in  the  circular 
letter  given  to  Peixotto.  There  is  no  paper  on  file 
in  the  State  Department  of  our  Government  that  so 
truly  and  characteristically  represents  the  spirit  and 
genius  of  our  institutions  as  this  simple  letter.  It 
was  not  written  for  the  President,  but  by  him  in  our 
presence,  and  the  words  flowed  naturally  from  a 
heart  full  of  human  sympathy,  and  as  classic  as  his 


76  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

own  memoirs,  written  under  great  physical  strain 
and  stress  at  Mt.  McGregor. 

On  the  12th  day  of  May,  1870,  I  received  the  fol 
lowing  letter  from  Schuyler  Colfax,  who  was  then 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  in  answer  to  a 
request  of  mine  to  have  a  resolution  introduced  in 
the  matter  of  the  Roumanian  outrages: 


"Washington,  May  12,  1870. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  received  your  letter,  but  having  heretofore 
presented  several  invitations  to  the  Senate  infor 
mally,  I  have  been  reminded  privately  by  Senators 
that  they  were  not  within  the  24th  rule,  which  limits 
the  Documents  that  may  be  submitted  to  the  Senate 
by  its  presiding  officer.  I  would  suggest  that  you 
have  the  invitation  presented  by  some  Senator  to 
whom  the  restrictive  rule  does  not  apply. 
In  great  haste, 

Yours  truly, 

SCHUYLER  COLFAX." 


I  took  his  advice  and  the  resolution  was  subse 
quently  introduced  by  Senator  Schurz. 

On  April  12,  1872,  I  received  the  following  letter 
from  the  State  Department,  signed  by  Hamilton  Fish, 
in  answer  to  a  letter  of  mine  asking  the  Department 
of  State  to  instruct  our  Consul  at  Bucharest  to  pro 
test  against  the  outrages  practiced  on  the  Israelites 
of  Roumania : 


ULYSSES    S.   GRANT  77 

"Department  of  State, 
Washington,  April  12,  1872. 
To  S.  Wolf,  Esq., 
Recorder  of  Deeds, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Your  letter  of  the  9th  instant  has  been  received. 
In  reply,  I  have  to  state  that  this  Department  has 
addressed  an  instruction  to  Mr.  B.  F.  Peixotto,  the 
Consul  of  the  United  States  at  Bucharest,  authorizing 
him  to  remonstrate  against  the  outrages  committed 
upon  the  Israelites  in  Roumania. 
I  am,  Dear  Sir, 

Your  very  obedient  servant, 

HAMILTON  FISH." 

There  was  a  genial  humor  about  President  Grant 
which  no  one  not  familiar  with  him  could  ever  have 
imagined.  I  remember  when  Congressman  Clark, 
then  representing  one  of  the  districts  in  Texas  in  the 
days  of  carpet-bagging,  presented  some  of  his  Texas 
constituents,  and  after  being  introduced,  Grant  looked 
up  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye  and  said,  "Clark,  what 
were  the  names  of  your  constituents  before  they 
migrated  to  Texas?"  Again,  while  awaiting  to  have 
an  interview  with  him,  some  enthusiastic  politicians 
were  observing  to  the  President  that  it  was  a  shame 
and  outrage  that  John  Morrisey  (the  noted  prize 
fighter)  should  be  a  member  of  Congress,  and  Grant 
replied  sententiously,  "Not  at  all,  this  is  a  representa 
tive  form  of  government  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
John  Morrisey  fairly  represents  his  district,"  and  after 
a  good  hearty  laugh  on  the  part  of  those  present,  the 
President  further  observed,  "I  know  John  Morrisey 


78  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

well  and  esteem  him  highly,  for  I  believe  that  when 
he  promises  anything,  he  does  it,  which  is  more  than 
I  can  say  for  some  other  members  of  Congress  who 
are  more  cultured." 

He  was  anxious  to  give  General  Sigel  some  recog 
nition  by  appointing  him  to  an  office  worthy  of  his 
name  and  achievements.  While  the  President  did 
not  have  the  most  unlimited  admiration  for  the 
military  ability  of  General  Sigel,  he  nevertheless 
esteemed  him  personally.  He  said  to  me  time  and 
again  that  no  man  had  done  as  much  to  aid  the  Union 
cause  in  the  Northwest,  and  especially  in  Missouri, 
as  General  Sigel,  and  that  his  name  had  contributed 
vastly  towards  rousing  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  Ger 
man  Americans,  and  if  for  nothing  else  than  that,  he 
deserved  the  gratitude  of  the  American  people.  I 
communicated  these  sentiments  to  the  General,  and 
the  President  was  ready  to  appoint  him  as  Collector 
of  Internal  Revenue,  which  General  Sigel  declined; 
then  Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue;  he  then  wished 
to  appoint  him  as  Minister  to  Portugal,  but  this  fared 
no  better. 

Some  time  had  elapsed  when  the  San  Domingo 
Commission  was  appointed,  and  I  suggested  to  the 
President  that  there  would  be  a  splendid  opportunity 
to  recognize  the  ability  of  General  Sigel,  who  was  a 
thorough  scholar  and  might  be  of  great  use  and  bene 
fit  to  the  Commission.  The  President  asked  me  to 
write  or  telegraph  to  the  General,  and  if  satisfactory 
he  would  appoint  him  as  a  member  of  the  Commis 
sion.  This  time  we  were  more  fortunate — General 
Sigel  accepted.  When  the  Commission  was  on  its 
return  home  a  rumor  circulated  that  the  vessel  had 
foundered  and  all  on  board  had  been  lost.  I  saw  the 


ULYSSES    S.    GRANT  79 

President  on  the  day  when  the  rumor  was  printed, 
and  he  asked  me  what  I  thought  about  it.  I  assured 
him  that  there  was  no  earthly  danger,  for  General 
Sigel  was  on  board.  The  President  wished  to  know 
what  that  had  to  do  with  it,  and  I  said,  "Why,  Mr. 
President,  he  would  decline  death."  A  hearty  laugh 
followed  on  his  part  and  he  must  have  repeated  it 
to  someone,  for  1  heard  it  afterwards  from  a  mem 
ber  of  his  Cabinet. 

The  irony  of  history  is  exemplified  by  present  con 
ditions  in  regard  to  San  Domingo.  The  principal 
cause  of  opposition  on  the  part  of  Grant's  political 
enemies  was  his  attempt  to  purchase  and  occupy  San 
Domingo,  a  step  that  is  now  justified  and  universally 
regretted  that  it  was  not  accomplished  by  Grant. 
But  there  are  times  in  the  history  of  our  country  when 
passion  and  selfishness  are  supreme,  which  was  evi 
denced  when  Secretary  William  H.  Seward  purchased 
Alaska.  Leading  papers  and  statesmen  at  the  time 
jeered  and  laughed  at  "buying  an  iceberg,"  and  the 
good  citizens  of  Auburn,  Seward's  home,  criticized 
him  severely.  American  history  records  no  finer 
stroke  of  statesmanship,  save  and  except  Jefferson's 
purchase  of  Louisiana. 

The  only  time  I  ever  saw  the  President  embar 
rassed  for  a  moment  was  at  the  Schuetzen  Park  at 
the  banquet  in  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the  laying 
of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Steuben  monument.  The 
Franco-German  War  was  then  on,  and  an  enthusias 
tic  German,  since  dead,  but  well  remembered, 
arose  and  proposed  the  health  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  friend  of  Germany.  I  promptly 
arose,  knowing  what  a  delicate  situation  it  was,  and 
said,  "No,  no,  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  the 


80  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

friend  of  all  the  governments  of  the  world,  but  Gen 
eral  Grant  is  our  guest  and  friend."  For  a  moment 
silence  reigned,  and  then  the  applause  was  most 
hearty  and  spontaneous,  and  Secretary  of  State, 
Hamilton  Fish,  who  had  accompanied  the  President, 
said  to  me  smilingly,  "That  was  most  happily  done; 
you  ought  to  be  in  the  diplomatic  service,"  to  which 
I  promptly  replied,  "If  I  was,  I  would  unquestionably 
have  done  as  well  as  some  of  those  whom  you  have 
sent  abroad." 

One  day  I  was  made  aware  of  the  fact  that  the 
different  religious  sects  in  this  country  were  to  be 
represented  in  the  service  of  the  government,  look 
ing  to  the  education  and  caring  for  the  Indians.  I 
saw  no  reason  inasmuch  as  that  was  adopted  as  a 
rule,  why  the  Jewish  faith  should  not  also  have  a  rep 
resentative,  especially  as  we  were  not  a  proselyting 
people,  and  that  whoever  was  appointed  would  see  to 
the  physical,  mental  and  moral  welfare  of  the  In 
dians.  I  called  on  the  President,  and  he  was  at  once 
alive  to  the  practicability  of  the  suggestion  and  asked 
me  to  name  someone.  I  promptly  did  so,  having  in 
the  meantime  consulted  my  friend,  Hon.  Simon  W. 
Rosendale,  of  Albany,  by  recommending  Dr.  Herman 
Bendel,  of  Albany,  who  had  seen  service  in  the  Civil 
War  and  who  enjoyed  then,  as  he  does  now,  a  most 
honorable  reputation,  and  who  had  shown  ability 
and  rare  judgment,  which  were  the  essential  neces 
sities  in  the  Indian  or  any  service. 

President  Grant  appointed  Dr.  Bendel  Superinten 
dent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  Arizona,  and  then  I  had  on 
my  hands  one  of  the  most  interesting  political  fights 
of  my  experience.  Bendel  came  from  the  State  of 
New  York ;  Roscoe  Conkling,  as  Senator,  claimed  the 


ULYSSES    S.   GRANT  81 

privilege  of  all  the  appointments.  Richard  C.  McCor- 
mick,  who  was  delegate  in  Congress  from  Arizona, 
naturally  felt  indignant  that  such  an  important  ap 
pointment  should  have  been  made  without  consulting 
him.  After  the  appointment  had  been  sent  to  the 
Senate,  the  President  sent  for  me,  and  while  at  the 
White  House,  Mr.  McGormick  came  in,  and  I  soon 
convinced  him  of  the  fitness  of  the  appointment,  and 
then  and  there  won  his  friendship,  which  I  enjoyed 
to  the  end  of  his  life.  But  to  win  the  imperial 
Roscoe  Conkling  was  not  so  easy.  The  President 
failed  to  do  so,  and  Conkling  refused  point  blank 
to  have  the  appointment  confirmed.  I  told  him  that 
I  extremely  regretted  that  he  was  pursuing  this 
course,  but  that  I  would  not  consent  to  the  with 
drawal  of  Dr.  Bendel's  name  unless  the  President 
requested  it.  I  knew  all  the  time  that  the  President 
would  not  do  so,  as  he  quietly  enjoyed  the  fight  and 
likewise  saw  no  reason  why  Conkling  should  have 
his  own  way.  I  made  the  fight  before  the  Committee 
on  Indian  Affairs  in  the  Senate  and  won,  and  I  must 
do  Conkling  the  credit  and  justice  to  say  that  he 
never  harbored  any  ill  will  or  anger;  on  the  con 
trary,  he  seemed  to  have  a  higher  respect  for  me 
and  subsequently  did  me  personally  a  most  impor 
tant  service.  Dr.  Bendel  went  to  Arizona  and  for 
several  years  discharged  the  important  duties  en 
trusted  to  him  to  such  eminent  satisfaction  that  the 
officials  of  the  Indian  Bureau  often  said  that  no  bet 
ter  superintendent  existed. 

There  was  a  Board  of  Missions  connected  with  this 
Indian  business  with  which  General  O.  O.  Howard 
and  Mr.  John  Welch,  of  Philadelphia,  and  other  good 
Christian  fellow-citizens  were  connected,  who  had  a 


82  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

meeting  at  the  Arlington  Hotel  for  the  purpose  of 
reviewing  the  services  of  the  various  superintendents 
and  the  work  accomplished  on  and  in  behalf  of  the 
Indians.  I  was  notified  to  be  present,  the  Commis 
sion  knowing  that  I  had  been  instrumental  in  secur 
ing  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Bendel,  and  much  to  my 
disgust  and  chagrin,  I  found  a  report  as  follows: 
"Dr.  Herman  Bendel,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Af 
fairs  for  Arizona,  is  a  most  excellent  official,  a  man 
of  splendid  judgment,  strict  integrity,  who  has  man 
aged  the  affairs  of  the  office  to  entire  satisfaction, 
but  unfortunately  he  is  not  a  Christian." 

It  was  such  a  startling  and  yet  natural  proposition 
emanating  from  that  source,  that  for  a  moment  I 
did  not  reply,  and  then  gave  them  an  exposition  of 
American  citizenship  which  I  am  sure  they  never 
forgot.  I  finally  told  them  that  if  anyone  in  thQ 
world  ought  to  be  appointed  to  supervise  the  affairs 
of  the  Indians  and  to  elevate  them  in  manhood  and 
morals,  it  should  undoubtedly  be  an  American  citi 
zen  of  Jewish  faith,  especially  of  the  medical  profes 
sion,  for  the  reports  read  at  that  meeting  showed 
that  three-fourths  per  cent  of  not  only  the  elder 
population,  but  also  of  the  children,  were  afflicted 
with  diseases  engendered  by  immoral  practices,  and 
that  therefore  Dr.  Bendel  could  not  only  civilize,  but 
also  use  his  professional  skill  in  converting  them  to 
the  tenets  of  Judaism,  a  physical  cleansing  process 
as  well  as  a  soul-elevation.  I  remember  well  the 
New  York  Herald  of  the  next  day  having  a  verbatim 
report  of  this  meeting  and  seeming  to  enjoy  the  grim 
humor  conveyed  in  my  observation.  But  it  proved 
ineffectual,  the  missionary  element,  dominant  and 
assertive,  won  the  day,  and  Dr.  Bendel  shortly  after 


ULYSSES   S.   GRANT  83 

resigned.  It  was  another  proof  which  I  have  had, 
fortunately  very  rare,  of  the  lack  of  judgment  on 
the  part  of  those  who  differ  in  faith. 

The  rupture  between  President  Grant,  Charles 
Sumner  and  Carl  Schurz  led  to  very  unpleasant  com 
plications,  not  only  from  a  national  but  from  a  per 
sonal  standpoint.  I  enjoyed  then  the  friendship  of 
Mr.  Schurz,  and  it  pained  me  exceedingly  to  find 
him  taking  the  course  he  did  against  the  administra 
tion  to  whose  elevation  he  had  contributed  so  much. 
I  was  well  aware  that  whatever  actuated  Mr.  Schurz 
was  inspired  by  motives  sincere  and  conscientious, 
and  yet  I  could  not  help  but  think  then,  as  I  do  now, 
that  he  sacrificed  a  great  deal  on  the  score  of  friend 
ship  existing  between  Mr.  Sumner  and  himself,  and 
I  believe  that  time  mellowed  Mr.  Schurz's  attitude  to 
a  very  large  degree  as  far  as  General  Grant  was  con 
cerned,  as  after  Grant's  death  no  one  paid  a  more 
beautiful  and  glowing  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the 
Great  Commander  than  did  Carl  Schurz.  He  char 
acterized  Grant's  Memoirs  as  equal,  if  not  superior, 
to  Caesar's  Commentaries.  No  higher  praise  could 
be  given,  especially  coming  from  such  a  source. 
Grant's  estimate  of  Sumner's  vaulting  egotism  has 
already  been  spoken  of  in  the  chapter  on  Johnson. 

The  discontent  among  a  certain  portion  of  the 
Republican  party  led  in  1872  to  the  formation  of 
what  is  known  in  history  as  the  Liberal  Republican 
organization.  They  called  a  national  convention 
which  met  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Carl  Schurz,  Judge 
Stallo,  Stanley  Matthews  and  other  notable  Republi 
cans  were  at  the  head.  The  result  of  that  convention 
was  the  nomination  of  Horace  Greely,  the  noted  and 
celebrated  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  a  life- 


84  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

long  Abolitionist  and  Republican.  The  Democratic 
convention  of  that  year  met  in  the  city  of  Baltimore 
and  affirmed  the  action  of  the  Liberal  Republicans 
by  adopting  its  platform  and  nominating  its  candi 
date,  the  most  curious  action  in  the  political  history 
of  the  United  States.  Horace  Greeley  had  for  years  in 
the  Tribune  denounced  and  villified  the  Democratic 
party.  He  had  gone  so  far  as  to  say,  "Show  me  a 
liar,  a  thief  and  a  perjurer  and  I  will  show  you  a 
Democrat,"  and  yet  this  great  national  organization, 
unmindful  of  the  past  and  only  eager  to  win  no 
matter  by  what  means  took  up  the  candidate  of  the 
Liberal  Republicans  in  the  hope  of  defeating  Grant. 

For  a  short  period  of  time  there  was  some  doubt 
as  to  the  result,  and  President  Grant,  one  day  while 
conversing  with  him  at  the  White  House,  during  the 
campaign,  suggested  that  if  I  felt  like  going  on  the 
stump  in  Ohio,  and  also  in  Indiana,  he  would  not 
object.  His  wish  was  a  command  to  me,  and  I  did 
speak  in  the  two  states.  During  my  itinerary  I  met 
the  Hon.  Abram  I.  Dittenhoefer,  who  is  yet  living  in 
the  City  of  New  York.  We  spoke  from  the  same 
platform,  and  the  friendship  engendered  by  associa 
tion  is  lasting  and  intense. 

In  that  same  campaign,  I  was  to  speak  in  the 
evening  when  Joseph  Pulitzer,  the  editor  of  the 
New  York  World,  was  to  speak  in  German  for  the 
opposition.  While  seated  in  the  hotel  reading  a 
newspaper,  two  men  came  in,  sat  down  and  ordered 
a  drink.  They  spoke  in  German,  good  Pennsylvania 
Dutch,  and  one  of  them  said  to  the  other,  "Did  you 
ever  hear  such  German  as  that  man  Pulitzer  got  off? 
Nobody  could  understand  him."  Naturally  Pulitzer 
had  spoken  over  their  heads  and  they  were  disgusted 


ULYSSES    S.    GRANT  85 

with  his  culture.  When  I  met  Pulitzer  that  same 
evening,  I  told  him,  and  we  had  a  laugh  at  his 
expense. 

Although  time  and  again  asked  to  speak  to  political 
organizations  in  German  and  to  foster  and  stimulate 
political  clubs  of  a  Jewish  character,  I  have  never 
done  the  one  nor  advocated  the  other.  In  all  mat 
ters  of  a  public  character  there  is  only  one  citizen 
ship,  and  that  is  to  be  American  and  speak  the  lan 
guage  of  the  country  and  notably  now. 

As  is  well  known,  the  result  of  that  election  was 
overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  General  Grant,  and 
discomfiture,  chagrin  and  strenuous  labors  were 
undoubtedly  the  primary  cause  of  Horace  Greeley's 
early  death.  In  1865,  at  the  second  inauguration  ball 
of  Lincoln,  Greeley  lost  his  hat,  in  1872  he  lost  his 
head. 

The  fourth  of  March,  1873  (second  inauguration  of 
Grant),  was  most  memorable  on  account  of  the 
weather.  The  oldest  citizen  of  Washington  had  not 
seen  anything  like  it.  It  was  bitter  cold,  the  wind 
blowing  at  the  rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour;  yet  the 
streets  were  lined  with  people,  and  the  front  of  the 
Capitol  packed  with  an  enthusiastic  crowd.  General 
Blumenberg,  of  Baltimore  and  I  marched  at  the 
head  of  our  respective  "Schuetzen  Verins,"  side  by 
side  with  the  army  and  navy  boys  of  West  Point  and 
Annapolis.  Many  of  these  marchers  contracted  pneu 
monia  and  died.  General  Grant,  with  uncovered 
head,  read  his  message,  and  the  welkin  rang  with 
cheers.  In  the  evening  the  Inaugural  Ball  was  held 
in  an  improvised  frame  structure  in  Judiciary  Square. 
Governor  Alexander  R.  Shepherd,  the  founder  of 
the  new  Washington,  was  chairman,  and  he  opened 


86  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

the  ball  in  his  fur  overcoat;  the  coffee  cans  ran  solid 
ice.  President  and  Mrs.  Grant,  who  were  present, 
seemed  to  enjoy  the  Arctic  conditions.  I  was  a 
member  of  the  Ball  Committee,  and  Grant  said  to 
me,  "I  saw  you  and  Blumenberg  in  the  crowd  today 
and  wondered  how  you  liked  it." 

To  me  President  Grant  was  the  embodiment  of  a 
brave,  patriotic  and  true  man;  but  more  than  that, 
he  was  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who  was 
entitled  to  forbearance,  who  deserved  at  the  hands 
of  his  fellow-citizens  that  consideration  which  a  just 
man  is  ever  willing  to  accord  to  a  private  citizen. 
Therefore,  I  stood  firmly  and  resolutely  by  the  Presi 
dent  in  that  unfortunate  controversy  engendered  by 
the  sale  of  arms  to  the  French  government.  I  saw 
at  once  that  someone  had  blundered  and  that  it  was 
no  time,  no  matter  how  much  we  might  wish  to  sell 
our  surplus  arms,  to  sell  them  then  to  the  French 
government.  I  called  on  the  President  at  once,  and 
he  convened  a  Cabinet  meeting,  at  which  I  had  the 
honor  to  be  present.  I  presented  all  the  facts  and 
argued  that  it  would  never  do  to  pursue  this  course, 
as  it  would  alienate  the  German-Americans  from 
their  love  of  and  for  the  United  States  and  would 
estrange  from  the  Republican  party  a  host  of  sterling, 
unselfish  and  devoted  adherents.  The  President 
promptly  acquiesced  in  this  opinion,  and  the  matter 
was  stopped  then  and  there,  and  the  German  papers 
of  that  day,  as  I  find  from  quite  a  number  of  notes 
contained  in  my  scrapbooks,  gave  high  praise  to  the 
President  for  his  prompt  action,  and  incidentally 
spoke  very  pleasingly  of  myself. 

When  the  cable  flashed  the  sad  intelligence  that 
the  Jews  of  Bessarabia  were  to  be  expelled  from 


ULYSSES    S.    GRANT  87 

Russian  territory  and  that  a  massacre  had  taken 
place  in  which  a  large  number  of  Jewish  people  had 
lost  their  lives,  in  addition  to  getting  action  by  both 
branches  of  Congress,  which  were  then  in  session,  I 
asked  the  President  to  use  his  good  offices  through 
our  Minister  in  St.  Petersburg  on  and  in  behalf  of 
my  unfortunate  co-religionists.  A  special  meeting  of 
the  Cabinet  was  convened,  at  which  I  again  had  the 
honor  to  be  present,  and  it  was  unanimously  agreed 
that  such  a  cable  message  should  be  sent  to  the  Hon. 
Andrew  G.  Curtin,  our  Minister.  Curtin  promptly 
acted,  and  successfully,  for  the  great  War  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  than  whom  no  more  loyal  or  liberal 
American  ever  lived,  appreciated  the  gravity  of  the 
situation,  and  did  not  act  as  did  another  Pennsyl- 
vanian,  Charles  Emory  Smith,  who  was  our  repre 
sentative  in  Russia  at  a  subsequent  period,  and  when 
asked  to  use  his  good  offices  and  best  efforts  on  and 
in  behalf  of  our  co-religionists  did  nothing.  Eugene 
Schuyler,  who  was  Secretary  of  the  American  Lega 
tion  in  St.  Petersburg,  was  requested  in  the  absence 
of  the  Minister  to  write  out  a  full  report  of  the  con 
dition  of  the  Jews  in  Russia,  not  to  give  an  opinion 
but  a  statement  of  facts,  so  that  our  government 
could  act  intelligently.  In  due  time  his  report  came, 
and  it  was  of  such  a  character  that  the  Department 
found  itself  unable  to  print  it.  I  was  permitted  to 
read  it  and  was  shocked  at  the  un-Americanism  of 
the  writer.  He  fully  agreed  with  all  that  Russia  had 
done  in  its  persecution  and  pogroms  and  knew  of 
no  reason  for  any  other  action  than  that  which  Rus 
sia  had  taken.  In  the  course  of  years  Mr.  Schuyler 
was  nominated  for  an  important  position  under  the 
government.  My  memory  fortunately  reproduced 


88  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

that  infamous  report,  and  the  committee  of  the  Sen 
ate  unanimously  reported  against  his  confirmation. 
Years  afterward  I  met  Mr.  Schuyler  in  Switzerland 
and  frankly  told  him  what  I  had  done  and  the  rea 
son  therefor.  It  was  quite  astonishing  to  him  not 
only  that  I  had  seen  the  report,  but  that  I  had  pre 
vented  his  confirmation,  but  he  agreed  that  from  my 
standpoint  I  was  absolutely  correct.  We  parted  on 
the  most  friendly  terms. 

President  Grant  took  an  interest  in  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  Convention  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
B'nai  R'rith,  held  in  Chicago  in  1874,  and  over  which 
I  presided.  When  I  returned  to  Washington,  I  had 
to  tell  him  all  about  the  Roumanian  Mission,  of  the 
action  taken  to  erect  a  Statue  to  Religious  Liberty, 
and  other  notable  legislation.  At  the  close  of  our 
interview,  he  said,  "You  Jews  are  certainly  a  great 
people  and  patriotic  Americans." 

In  1876,  the  centennial  year,  when  the  Union  of 
American  Hebrew  Congregations  held  their  council 
in  this  city,  President  Grant  received  them,  and  all 
of  the  delegates  were  highly  pleased  with  the  recep 
tion  and  the  cordial  manner  in  which  they  were 
treated  by  the  President.  The  President  seemed  to 
know  quite  a  number  of  them,  and  when  I  saw  him 
afterward  he  expressed  gratification  in  having  met 
so  many  intelligent  American  citizens,  and  when  in 
troduced  to  Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise,  the  founder  of  the 
Union,  he  promptly  said,  "I  know  all  about  you, 
Doctor,  especially  in  connection  with  Order  No.  11." 

The  following  letter  sent  to  President  Grant,  and 
his  answer  thereto,  fully  explain  themselves: 


STATUE  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY,  ERECTED  AT  FAIR  MOUNT  PARK, 
PHILADELPHIA,  BY  THE  I.  O.  B.  B.,  IN  1876. 


ULYSSES    S.    GRANT  89 

Washington,  D.  C.,  June  26,  1876. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President: 

No  doubt  you  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  Inde 
pendent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith  at  its  quinquennial 
Convention  held  in  Chicago  in  1874,  unanimously 
voted  the  erection  of  a  Statue  to  Religious  Liberty, 
and  that  the  same  should  be  erected  in  Fairmount 
Park,  Philadelphia.  Now  on  this  coming  Fourth  of 
July,  the  Statue  having  been  completed  by  an  Amer 
ican  sculptor,  Sir  Mosely  Ezekiel,  will  be  dedicated 
and  given  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  This 
evidence  of  patriotism  and  of  love  of  liberty  on  the 
part  of  American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith  is  in  keeping 
with  their  history  and  their  lofty  ideals  and  concep 
tion  of  duty.  No  class  of  citizenship  has  been  made 
happier  by  religious  liberty  than  the  Jew,  for  the 
denial  of  that  liberty  in  other  lands  has  been  the 
cause  of  endless  persecution  and  misery. 

We  sincerely  trust  that  this  statue,  typifying  so 
grandly  the  separation  of  church  and  state,  may  be 
an  inspiration  and  an  example  for  all  the  genera 
tions  of  the  future. 

Is  it  not  possible  for  you  to  attend  the  unveiling? 

Very  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

And  the  President  replied: 

White  House, 

June  28,  1876. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Your  letter  in  the  matter  of  the  Statue  to  be  dedi 
cated  to  Religious  Liberty  in  Fairmount  Park,  Phila 
delphia,  on  the  4th  of  July,  has  been  duly  received. 
It  has  impressed  me  deeply  and  I  congratulate  you 


90  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

and  all  concerned  for  this  splendid  contribution  on 
the  part  of  American  citizens  who  at  all  times  in  war 
and  in  peace,  have  shown  their  loyalty  and  patriot 
ism  on  and  in  behalf  of  the  Republic. 

I  sincerely  regret  that  official  duties  will  prevent 
my  attendance. 

Sincerely  yours, 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

Just  before  General  Grant  was  inaugurated,  he 
exceeded  the  speed  limit  of  the  District  by  driving 
two  of  his  pet  horses  too  fast  on  Pennsylvania  Ave 
nue.  He  was  arrested  by  a  policeman  and  brought 
before  Justice  Charles  Walter,  who  was  at  that  time 
Justice  of  the  Police  Court.  Walter  fined  him  ten 
dollars,  which  President-elect  Grant  paid  without  a 
murmur.  Just  after  Grant  had  been  inaugurated,  the 
commission  of  Justice  Charles  Walter  expired,  and 
there  were  a  large  number  of  patriots  anxious  to 
secure  the  appointment.  One  of  the  arguments  made 
to  President  Grant  was  that  Walter  was  the  Dutch 
man  who  had  fined  him  ten  dollars  for  driving  too 
fast,  and  Grant  sententiously  remarked,  "Is  that  so? 
Well,  that's  the  man  I  will  reappoint,  for  he  knows 
how  to  do  his  duty,  irrespective  of  men  or  station." 

One  day  I  received  a  request  from  a  blind  girl,  tell 
ing  me  that  her  father  had  been  arrested  and  con 
victed  of  selling  washed  revenue  stamps.  She  said 
that  he  was  her  only  support  and  that  he  had  been 
most  kind  and  considerate  of  her  at  all  times,  and 
she  begged  of  me  to  see  whether  I  could  not  have  her 
father,  whom  she  believed  to  be  innocent,  and  as  was 
subsequently  proven,  pardoned.  I  went  to  the  Presi 
dent  and  showed  him  the  letter,  printed  in  raised  type 


ULYSSES    S.   GRANT  91 

which  the  blind  use;  he  tapped  his  bell,  ordered  the 
immediate  release  of  the  unfortunate  man,  and  I  have 
in  my  library  today  a  letter  of  thanks  from  his  daugh 
ter  who  physically  blind,  was  glorious  in  her  mental 
vision  of  the  President,  and  I  treasure  the  letter  as 
among  my  choicest  souvenirs. 

One  day  a  woman  called  at  my  house;  I  remember 
it  well;  she  said  she  lived  in  Chicago,  and  brought  a 
voluminous  petition  for  the  pardon  of  her  husband, 
who  was  then  on  his  way  to  Joliet,  having  been  con 
victed  of  a  crime.  I  had  had  so  many  requests  that 
I  was  not  only  chary  about  troubling  the  President 
but  in  reality  it  became  a  grievous  burden  to  me  in 
dividually,  and  I  said  I  could  not  do  anything,  but 
my  wife  begged  me  to  do  what  I  could  and  I  went  to 
the  President,  giving  him  the  petition.  He  read  the 
names  and  recognized  most  of  the  signatures  of  the 
leading  men  of  Chicago.  He  turned  to  me  and  said, 
"Do  you  know  anything  about  this  case?"  I  said,  "I 
know  most  of  the  people  who  have  signed  the  peti 
tion  and  believe  that  they  would  not  request  you  to 
act  unless  they  were  convinced  that  some  mistake 
had  been  made."  He  promptly  ordered  the  pardon 
of  this  man.  His  pardon  was  telegraphed  prior  to 
his  admission  to  Joliet,  thus  saving  him  humiliation. 
Shortly  afterward  it  was  proven  beyond  question 
that  the  man  WHS  innocent,  and  had  been  the  victim 
of  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  a  relative  of  the  per 
son  with  whom  this  man  had  been  employed.  This 
fact  I  communicated  to  the  President,  and  it  give 
him  great  satisfaction.  This  pardon  led  to  my  mak 
ing  the  acquaintance  of  this  person  in  the  City  of 
Chicago  at  the  general  convention  of  the  Order  of 
B'nai  B'rith  in  1874.  He  was  a  journalist  and  proved 


92  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

his  gratitude  in  a  thousand  different  ways  during 
our  stay,  by  which  the  name  and  fame  of  the  Order 
became  public  through  the  channel  of  the  press. 

Another  case  was  that  of  a  relative  of  a  friend  of 
mine,  who  had  disappeared  from  home  and  whose 
whereabouts  were  unknown.  Months  afterwards  I 
received  a  telegram  from  this  friend  telling  me  that 
the  absent  one  had  been  discovered  in  a  United  States 
prison,  having  deserted  from  the  army  in  which  he 
had  enlisted,  and  to  do  what  I  could  to  have  him  re 
stored  to  his  family.  The  high  character  of  the 
family  prompted  me  to  see  General  Grant  and  detail 
to  him  the  circumstances.  He  fully  recognized  the 
situation  and  generously  pardoned  the  man  and  or 
dered  that  he  be  permitted  to  return  to  his  home. 

During  the  second  term  of  President  Grant,  I  de 
livered  an  address  in  Washington  (and  subsequently 
in  different  parts  of  the  United  States)  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Schiller  Bund,  of  which  I  was  presi 
dent.  It  was  entitled  "The  Influence  of  the  Jews  on 
the  Progress  of  the  World."  Later  I  published  it  in 
book  form  and  gave  a  copy  to  the  President.  A  few 
weeks  later  I  received  the  following  letter: 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

"I  have  read  with  great  pleasure  and  interest  your 
lecture  on  'The  influence  of  the  Jews.'  I  congratulate 
you  on  this  valuable  and  thoughtful  contribution.  It 
will  educate  the  many  who  are  prejudiced  because 
they  are  ignorant. 

Sincerely, 

U.  S.  GRANT." 

Some  years  later  I  reprinted  this  lecture,  and 
among  others  sent  a  copy  to  General  E.  F.  Beale,  who 


ULYSSES   S.   GRANT  93 

was  our  Minister  to  Austria  under  General  Grant's 
administration.  To  which  General  Beale  answered 
as  follows: 

May,  1888. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

I  have  read  your  lecture,  "The  Influence  of  the 
Jews  on  the  Progress  of  the  World"  with  very  great 
pleasure  and  profit.  There  is  but  one  single  point  I 
a  little  object  to.  It  is  too  much  a  defense  of  the 
Jews.  Who  is  there  in  these  days,  whose  good  opin 
ion  is  worth  having,  who  requires  a  defense  of  the 
Jews  ?  If  he  knows  anything  of  letters,  science,  phil 
osophy,  faith,  hope  or  charity,  he  must  know  that  the 
finest  illustrations  of  all  these  virtues  are  to  be  found 
in  Hebrew  history,  and  that  the  most  profound  states 
men,  the  most  divine  poets,  artists,  architects  and 
warriors  have  sprung  from  that  race,  which  has  held 
itself  together  in  spite  of  the  world  of  prejudice  in 
arms  against  them.  Every  just  idea  of  modern  times, 
of  the  obligations  of  the  rich  to  the  working  poor, 
finds  its  foundation  in  the  benevolence  which  teaches 
'Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  which  treadeth  out  the 
corn,'  and  that  other  law  so  divine  that  it  must  have 
been  inspired  by  God  Himself,  'Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself,'  is  Jewish  law.  The  very  search 
for  wealth  which  ignorance  reproaches  them  with, 
what  is  it?  Is  it  not  commerce,  the  handmaiden  of 
civilization?  It  is  commerce  which  brings  the  na 
tions  together  and  makes  the  Brotherhood  of  Man  a 
possible  fact  among  the  peoples  of  the  world.  As  for 
Shakespeare  and  Shylock,  I  think  you  make  too  much 
account  of  them.  Shakespeare  was  intent  only  on 
making  a  telling  play,  and  in  many  of  his  other  plays 


94  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

he  makes  countrymen  of  his  own  much  more  un 
lovely  characters  than  Shylock.  Scott  followed 
Shakespeare  with  the  same  end  in  view,  yet  who 
would  not  rather  he  had  made  Ivanhoe  marry  the 
beautiful,  refined  and  self-sacrificing  Rebecca  than 
the  insipid  Rowena  ?  As  for  Dickens,  he  made  Fagan 
only  half  as  repulsive  as  the  brutal  and  murderous 
Sykes.  All  men  who  love  letters,  whether  unlearned 
like  myself  and  only  loving  them  from  hereditary  in 
stinct,  or  deeply  imbued  with  them  by  education, 
know  what  that  great  people  has  accomplished  in 
every  branch  which  has  raised  the  human  race  to  its 
present  condition. 

Very  sincerely  your  friend, 

E.  F.  BEALE. 

One  day  I  received  a  letter  from  a  Jew  in  Jerus 
alem,  who  wrote  me  in  jargon,  which  Henry  Gersoni, 
lately  deceased,  managed  to  decipher,  and  the  request 
was  that  I  should  see  the  "King  of  the  United  States" 
and  bring  to  his  attention  the  fact  that  he,  the  Jew 
of  Jerusalem,  had  a  daughter  whom  he  wished  to  be 
married,  and  he  wanted  to  do  the  "King  of  the  United 
States"  the  honor  to  have  him  contribute  to  her 
dowry.  The  request  was  so  amusing  that  I  stated  it 
to  the  President,  and  he  said,  "Do  you  think  this  man 
is  in  earnest?"  and  I  said,  "None  more  so,"  and  he 
promptly  gave  me  a  check  for  $25,  which  I  forwarded 
to  my  correspondent.  Subsequently  I  received  a  let 
ter  of  thanks  in  Hebrew,  also  the  portrait  of  General 
Grant  in  Jewish  letters,  which,  I  believe,  will  be  found 
among  the  other  Grant  treasures  on  exhibition  in  the 
National  Museum.  The  singular  part  of  this  inci 
dent  lies  in  the  fact  that  General  Grant,  while  on  his 


ULYSSES    S.   GRANT  95 

tour  of  the  world,  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  near  the 
walls  where  the  pious  Jew  offers  his  prayers,  a  man 
prostrated  himself  before  him,  kissing  his  hand,  and 
lo  and  behold,  it  was  the  person  to  whom  the  Presi 
dent  had  sent  the  donation. 

The  American  citizens  of  German  origin  and  birth 
were  not  forgotten.  Thus  General  Sigel  was  ap 
pointed  Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue  in  New  York 
City;  Morris  Friedsaur,  Collector  and  Assessor;  Gen 
eral  Max  Weber,  Assessor  and  Collector;  General 
E.  S.  Solomon,  of  Chicago,  was  made  Governor  of 
the  Territory  of  Washington,  and  General  Grant 
had  a  very  high  and  exalted  opinion  of  the  mili 
tary  ability  and  bravery  of  the  General;  the  staunch 
veteran  Republican  of  the  City  of  New  York,  An 
dreas  Willman,  was  appointed  Collector  of  Internal 
Revenue.  In  making  this  appointment,  President 
Grant  showed  his  wonderful  memory,  for  the  year 
prior  he  wanted  to  make  this  appointment,  but  the 
political  combinations  made  it  necessary  to  appoint 
someone  else,  and  when  a  vacancy  occurred,  he  said 
to  me,  "Why  would  this  not  be  a  fine  opportunity  to 
appoint  Willman?"  showing  that  he  had  never  for 
gotten  his  original  intention.  He  also  appointed 
David  Eckstein  Consul  to  Vancouver.  The  same 
Mr.  Eckstein  was  for  years  Consul  at  Amsterdam, 
and  the  German-American  press  rushed  into  print, 
wanting  to  know  who  Eckstein  was,  and  I  had  to 
answer  in  a  letter  that  was  widely  copied,  showing 
that  Eckstein  had  been  a  splendid  patriot  during  the 
Civil  War  and  had  an  admirable  record  in  the  State 
Department. 

General  Grant  took  an  active  interest  in  all  that 
appertained  to  the  beautifying  and  enlarging  of  the 


96  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Nation's  Capital.  He  encouraged  and  supported 
Alexander  R.  Shepherd  in  his  wonderful  efforts  to 
make  Washington  "a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy  for 
ever,"  and  eternal  gratitude  is  due  to  both  of  these 
men  for  not  only  having  taken  the  initiative,  but 
laying  the  foundation  for  the  future  beautifying  that 
has  since  been  accomplished. 

On  the  eve  of  the  retirement  from  Presidential 
office  of  General  Grant,  I  addressed  him  the  follow 
ing  letter: 

March  2,  1877. 
My  dear  Mr.  President : 

Day  after  tomorrow  you  will,  by  virtue  of  law,  re 
tire  from  the  Presidency  which  you  have  so  splen 
didly  adorned.  Our  intercourse  personally  and  offi 
cially  has  been  of  such  a  pleasant  character  that  I 
can  not  help  but  congratulate  myself  for  the  high 
privilege  and  distinction  which  this  intimacy  has  con 
ferred.  You  have  at  all  times  been  most  considerate 
and  cordial.  Time  and  again  you  have  given  evi 
dence  of  your  good-will,  and  indeed  your  forbear 
ance.  Although  you  will  retire  to  private  life,  I  will 
ever  have  the  highest  esteem  of  your  character  as 
soldier,  patriot  and  citizen.  May  the  years  yet  in 
store  for  you,  bring  you  health  and  happiness  and 
good  cheer. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

To  which  on  the  following  day  I  received  his  reply : 

March  3,  1877. 
My  dear  Mr.  Wolf : 

Your  letter  of  yesterday  has  given  me  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure.  You  have  during  the  eight  years  of 


ULYSSES   S.   GRANT  97 

our  official  intercourse  shown  the  true  spirit  of  an 
American  citizen,  and  our  personal  relations  have 
at  all  times  endeared  you  to  me. 

I  thank  you  sincerely  and  hope  that  your  future 
years  may  bring  you  still  greater  honors,  health  and 
happiness. 

Sincerely  yours, 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

The  friendship  of  the  father  was  transmitted  to  the 
son,  for  on  my  seventieth  birthday,  General  Fred  D. 
Grant  wrote  in  my  "Year  Book,"  "Hearty  congratu 
lations  to  my  father's  old  friend."  General  Grant 
was  the  godfather  of  my  son,  who  bears  the  name 
Grant.  The  usual  Jewish  ceremony  eight  days  after 
his  birth  took  place  on  January  19,  1869.  The  Gen 
eral  sent  as  his  personal  representative  General  Ba- 
deau,  and  a  basket  of  beautiful  flowers  to  the  mother. 

Nothing  that  he  did  has  left  a  purer  fragrance  of 
admiration  and  good-will  than  the  unobtrusive  act, 
at  the  time  unknown  to  me,  on  his  part  in  sending 
flowers  and  fruit  from  the  White  House  grounds  to 
one  who  was  endeared  to  me  by  the  holiest  ties  and 
who  was  temporarily  absent  from  my  home. 

I  count  as  one  of  the  most  pleasing  episodes  of  my 
life  the  fact  of  having  been  officially  connected  with 
his  administration.  I  do  not  believe  that  he  ever  did 
anything  intentionally  to  injure  anyone.  He  was 
imbued  with  the  loftiest  sense  of  patriotism  and 
generosity;  and  when  anyone  had  once  won  his 
friendship,  he  clung  to  him  through  all  the  vicissi 
tudes  and  trials  of  life. 

The  world  knows  General  Grant  by  what  he  accom 
plished.  In  the  Walhalla  of  fame  his  statue  will 


98  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

stand  pre-eminent,  but  to  the  individual  who  enjoyed 
personal  relations  and  to  whom  he  unbosomed  him 
self  as  he  really  was — one  of  nature's  noblemen — he 
will  live  as  the  future  historian  is  bound  to  depict 
him,  an  American  who  rivaled  Bayard  of  old,  a  man 
sans  peur,  sans  reproche.  His  tomb  is  near  the  classic 
banks  of  the  Hudson,  a  Mecca  for  all  lovers  of 
liberty.  The  rising  and  setting  sun  of  day,  the  stars 
of  night,  will  shine  thereon  forever  and  ever,  repro 
ducing  in  the  hearts  of  all  true  patriots,  light  and 
lustre  which  time  cannot  pale  or  efface. 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES 
1877-1881 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES 

When  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  had  been  elected  for 
the  third  time  Governor  of  Ohio,  I  came  to  the  con 
clusion  that  he  would  be  the  available  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  after  General  Grant's  term  should 
have  expired.  My  opinion  was  based  on  prevailing 
conditions,  and  especially  on  the  fact  that  he  advo 
cated  sound  finance,  and  the  German-Americans  of 
Ohio,  especially  in  the  large  cities,  were  firm  and  un 
shaken  for  that  issue,  and  it  was  largely  due  to  Carl 
Schurz,  who  made  a  series  of  addresses  in  Ohio,  that 
Hayes  was  elected  Governor  by  a  small  margin. 

In  the  spring  of  1876,  the  politicians  and  the  Re 
publican  press  were  canvassing  the  various  persons 
likely  to  be  selected  at  the  coming  Republican  na 
tional  convention,  Blaine  being  almost  universally 
recognized  as  the  candidate,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Sigmund 
Kauffman,  a  prominent  Republican  attorney  of  New 
York  City,  that  R.  B.  Hayes  would  be  nominated  for 
President,  and  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  I 
even  named  the  Vice-President,  William  A.  Wheeler, 
of  New  York.  Kauffman  wrote  after  the  nomina 
tion  that  the  prophecy  entitled  me  to  a  Cabinet 
position!  I  attended  the  convention  in  Cincinnati, 
and  the  scene  is  as  vivid  as  on  the  afternoon  when 
it  occurred,  when  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  made  his 
famous  nominating  speech  for  James  G.  Blaine.  I 
am  not  exaggerating  when  I  say  that  he  fairly  lifted 
me  off  my  chair.  I  rose  instinctively  to  the  wonder 
ful  pyrotechnic  effects  of  that  great  speech,  and  had 
Governor  Noyes,  of  Ohio,  the  personal  representative 
of  Mr.  Hayes,  not  had  the  gas  turned  off  from  the 
hall,  Blaine  would  have  been  nominated  then  and 


100  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

there.  No  power  could  have  prevented  it.  But  the 
convention  adjourned,  the  leaders  had  time  to  think, 
the  effect  of  the  speech  wore  off  to  some  extent,  and 
the  next  day,  as  I  had  prognosticated  in  the  early 
spring,  Hayes  and  Wheeler  were  nominated  and 
elected. 

On  the  night  of  the  election,  or  rather  at  2  o'clock 
next  morning,  I  was  with  William  E.  Chandler,  Sen 
ator  from  New  Hampshire;  J.  M.  Edmonds,  post 
master  of  Washington,  and  Lewis  Glephane,  a  noted 
abolitionist  of  this  city,  who  first  published  "Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin."  When  we  received  the  celebrated 
telegram  from  Zack  Chandler  from  National  Head 
quarters  in  New  York,  which  was  sent  out  all  over 
the  country,  "Hayes  has  185,  Tilden  184";  and  which 
declaration  was  maintained  to  the  end,  but  came 
very  near  bringing  on  another  civil  war. 

Then  came  the  great  and  crucial  question  as  to  who 
was  elected,  Tilden  or  Hayes.  This  is  no  time  or 
place  for  me  to  enter  at  length  into  details  as  to  that 
memorable  controversy.  I  was  deeply  interested, 
and  to  some  extent  responsible  for  part  of  the  work. 
One  thing  can  now  be  truthfully  said — that  to  two 
American  citizens  of  that  time  more  than  likely  we 
are  indebted  for  a  non-recurrence  of  a  civil  war,  U.  S. 
Grant,  then  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
Samuel  J.  Randall,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives;  the  one  a  Republican,  the  other  a  Demo 
crat.  Both  rose  to  the  very  height  of  patriotism,  and 
their  firmness  and  determination  to  prevent  disaster 
saved  us  from  the  greatest  calamity  that  any  nation 
can  suffer.  It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  state 
that  in  1868,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  a  life-long  abolitionist  and  Republican, 


RUTHERFORD   B.    HAYES  101 

was  most  anxious  to  be  nominated  by  the  national 
Democratic  party  at  New  York.  Samuel  J.  Tilden 
prevented  it,  and  Horatio  Seymour  was  nominated 
and  defeated.  When  the  question  of  counting  Louis 
iana  came  up  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
Conkling  was  in  doubt  as  to  whether  Hayes  was  enti 
tled  to  the  electoral  vote  of  that  state.  Mrs.  Kate 
Chase  Sprague,  the  daughter  of  the  Chief  Justice,  and 
Mr.  Conkling  were  friends;  she  managed  to  secure 
Mr.  Conkling's  absence  from  the  Senate  at  the  crucial 
moment,  and  Hayes  won  out  and  Tilden  lost.  She 
afterwards  said,  "I  got  even  with  Mr.  Tilden  for  de 
feating  my  father." 

Mr.  Hayes  was  inaugurated,  notwithstanding  all 
the  bluster  of  certain  Southern  politicians,  and  nomi 
nated  a  cabinet  that  has  never  had  a  superior  in  the 
history  of  our  country;  Wm.  M.  Evarts,  Secretary  of 
State;  John  Sherman,  of  the  Treasury;  Carl  Schurz, 
of  the  Interior;  E.  R.  Hoar,  Attorney  General;  Geo. 
W.  McCreary,  Secretary  of  War;  David  M.  Key,  of 
Tennessee,  Postmaster  General,  etc. 

I  continued  my  position  as  Recorder  of  the  District, 
never  dreaming,  from  what  I  had  done  for  the  party 
and  especially  for  the  President's  election,  but  that  I 
was  secure  as  long  as  I  cared  to  occupy  it,  but  events 
shape  themselves  very  curiously  at  times;  in  fact, 
Shakespeare  has  given  it  in  better  form,  "There's  a 
divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  rough-hew  them  as 
we  may."  As  I  have  already  stated  heretofore,  the 
Washington  Schuetzen  Verein  had  annual  festivals, 
and  naturally,  as  in  other  days,  the  President  and 
his  Cabinet  were  invited.  The  President,  Secretary 
Schurz  and  Postmaster  General  Key  had  honored  us 
with  their  presence,  and  enjoyed  it.  On  the  first  day 


102  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

of  the  festival  when  the  annual  parade  took  place, 
we  passed  the  White  House  and  the  President  was 
standing  on  the  porch  reviewing  us,  and  an  atten 
dant  handed  into  the  carriage  in  which  I  was  seated 
as  president  of  the  Association,  with  the  "King"  of 
the  Association,  who  had  made  the  best  shot  during 
the  past  year,  a  basket  of  flowers,  with  a  card  on  it 
"With  the  compliments  of  Mrs.  Rutherford  B. 
Hayes."  I  had  told  the  President  that  this  was  cus 
tomary. 

There  had  been  started  in  Washington  shortly 
after  the  inauguration  a  women's  temperance  asso 
ciation  entitled  "The  Mrs.  R.  B.  Hayes  Temperance 
Association."  Therefore  you  can  imagine  the  indig 
nation  and  vituperation  that  this  simple  act  on  the 
part  of  the  President  occasioned.  We  were  de 
nounced,  and  I  especially,  from  the  street  corners,  by 
temperance  fanatics,  and  a  committee  of  ladies 
waited  on  Mrs.  Hayes,  threatening  to  disband  their 
organization  unless  I  was  immediately  dismissed 
from  office.  The  newspapers  took  it  up,  not  only  in 
Washington,  but  all  over  the  country;  most  of  them 
ridiculed  the  position  taken  by  some  of  the  good 
women  of  the  nation's  capital. 

Time  wore  on,  and  late  in  the  winter  of  1877  the 
President  sent  for  me  and  said  he  feared  he  would 
have  to  fill  my  place  with  someone  else.  The  fact 
became  known  through  the  public  press,  and  there 
poured  into  the  White  House  hundreds  of  petitions 
and  letters  from  all  classes,  nationalities  and  political 
affiliations,  asking  the  President  to  retain  me  in  office. 
Cardinals,  archbishops,  bishops,  priests,  preachers, 
Senators,  members  of  Congress,  bankers,  in  fact,  it 
became  almost  laughable  to  think  that  an  office  like 


RUTHERFORD   B.    HAYES  103 

the  one  I  had  held  for  nearly  nine  years  should  occa 
sion  such  a  demonstration.  I  have  all  these  docu 
ments  in  my  possession,  having  been  given  me  by  the 
White  House,  and  I  treasure  them  as  one  of  the  dear 
est  relics  of  my  career,  as  an  evidence  of  the  loyal 
friendship  and  good-will  of  so  many  men  in  all  parts 
of  the  United  States.  But  the  demand  for  the  place 
became  so  earnest,  especially  as  the  President  had 
certain  political  debts  to  pay,  notably  that  of  George 
A.  Sheridan,  a  great  stump  speaker  at  that  time  from 
Louisiana,  that  in  April,  1878,  the  President  sent  for 
me,  and  at  the  White  House  at  8  o'clock  in  the  even 
ing  he  told  me  that  he  regretted  it  but  he  had  to  have 
my  place.  I  left  the  White  House  without  any  state 
ment,  but  on  the  18th  day  of  April  1  sent  the  President 
the  following  letter: 

"Washington,  D.  C.,  April  18,  1878. 
"To  the  President: 

"In  obedience  to  your  verbal  request,  I  herewith 
resign  the  position  of  'Recorder  of  Deeds'  for  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia. 

"I  am  somewhat  at  a  loss  when  I  reflect  on  the  Civil 
Service  policy  of  the  administration,  that  this  step  is 
taken,  especially  as  you  said  in  answer  to  my  inquiry, 
'Is  there  any  reason  or  cause?'  'None  in  the  world. 
On  the  contrary,  you  stand  well,  but  I  need  your 
place,  etc.' 

"Nine  years  ago,  Mr.  President,  I  was  appointed  by 
General  Grant,  without  any  solicitation  on  my  part. 
During  this  time  I  have  faithfully  discharged  my  offi 
cial  duties,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  every  man  in 
the  District.  I  have  been  a  consistent,  perhaps  too 
consistent,  Republican,  doing  all  in  my  power  to  as- 


104  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

sert  everywhere  the  better  doctrines  of  the  party,  and 
always  at  my  expense.  I  did  during  the  last  cam 
paign  everything  possible  to  have  you  elected,  and  I 
find  it  perfectly  logical  that  I  should  be  punished,  for 
no  doubt  had  I  opposed  you,  I  might  have  been  pro 
moted  into  the  Cabinet.* 

"I  resent  the  offer  made  to  me,  that  I  could  be  pro 
vided  for,  perhaps  abroad.  I  am  content  to  stay  at 
home,  and  watch  the  further  acts  of  an  administra 
tion  whose  highest  ambition  it  is  to  reward  enemies 
and  punish  friends. 

"SIMON  WOLF." 

From  the  political  office,  I  went  to  the  law  office 
again,  bankrupt  in  means,  but  wealthy  in  the  friend 
ship,  affection  and  confidence  of  my  f ellowmen,  espe 
cially  my  fellow-citizens  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Secretary  Schurz,  who  was  my  personal  friend  of 
many  years'  standing,  which  ended  only  when  he 
passed  away,  regretted  exceedingly  that  he  could  not 
prevent  the  President  from  doing  what  he  did,  so 
later  in  1878,  there  being  a  vacancy  on  the  municipal 
bench,  he  begged  me  to  accept  the  nomination.  I 
said  I  would  only  do  so  provided  the  President  would 
personally  send  for  me  and  tender  it,  which  he  did, 
and  I  must  say,  manfully  never  alluded  to  my  letter 
of  resignation,  was  most  gracious  in  his  manner,  and 
as  far  as  I  know,  we  remained  friends. 

B.  F.  Peixotto,  who  had  done  good  work  in  Ru 
mania,  as  noted  in  the  sketch  of  President  Grant,  had 
returned,  and  had  come  to  Washington.  He  was  my 
guest  for  months,  waiting  to  have  some  recognition. 

*David  M.  Key,  Postmaster  General,  Tennessee. 


RUTHERFORD   B.    HAYES  105 

Finally  I  succeeded  in  having  him  appointed  Consul 
General  to  St.  Petersburg,  Russia.  There  was  some 
opposition  in  the  Senate,  but  he  was  finally  confirmed. 
Then,  contrary  to  my  advice,  a  banquet  was  given 
him  at  Welcker's,  and  the  guest  of  honor  in  undiplo 
matic  phrases  spoke  of  the  great  work  he  expected 
to  accomplish.  The  Associated  Press  gave  currency 
to  this  speech,  and  Russia,  only  too  anxious  for  a 
reason,  promptly  refused  to  receive  him.  Then  sev 
eral  more  months  intervened;  finally  he  was  ap 
pointed  Consul  at  Lyons,  France,  an  important  com 
mercial  post,  which  he  filled  with  great  credit,  and 
where  I  found  him  and  his  talented  family  on  my 
way  to  and  from  Egypt.  General  P.  I.  Osterhaus  was 
his  predecessor.  Common  courtesy  should  have 
prompted  him  to  wait  the  coming  of  Mr.  Peixotto,  but 
the  brave  general  left,  declaring  he  would  not  wel 
come  a  Jew.  Comment  is  unnecessary,  save  that  it 
is  one  more  evidence  of  the  bigotry  of  some  men. 

A  young  lady  of  a  prominent  Jewish  family  living 
in  Washington  was  anxious  to  be  appointed  in  one 
of  the  departments,  but  conditioned  that  she  need 
not  work  on  Saturday.  I  approached  my  friend, 
Secretary  Schurz,  who  said  that  he  would  speak  to 
the  President,  as  the  condition  about  Saturday  was 
beyond  his  discretion.  The  President  promptly  au 
thorized  the  appointment,  saying  that  anyone  who 
would  rather  forego  an  office  than  violate  their  Sab 
bath  was  a  good  citizen  and  worthy  of  the  appoint 
ment.  This  estimable  lady  remained  in  the  Interior 
Department  for  forty  years. 

President  Hayes  unfortunately  was  regarded  as 
counted  in,  and  that  cloud  obscured  his  really  very 


106  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

patriotic  administration.  Many  reforms  were  started 
by  him  and  his  able  Cabinet. 

At  the  close  of  the  Festival  above  mentioned,  I 
made  an  address,  of  which  the  following  is  an  ex 
tract  : 

"The  church,  the  home,  the  public  schools,  are  the 
educators  of  the  people — not  one  particular  church, 
but  all  of  them.  To  teach  temperance  is  to  practice 
it,  not  in  one  but  in  all  things.  The  abuse  and  not 
the  use  is  to  be  avoided.  In  my  opinion  all  sump 
tuary  legislation  is  an  insult  to  common-sense.  Regu 
lation  and  control  are  the  only  remedies.  The  Jew 
for  centuries  has  been  a  model  in  his  temperate  con 
duct,  law  abiding  and  orderly,  and  all  this  without 
restraint  of  natural  rights. 

"What  a  mockery  and  shame  it  is,  this  class  of 
men  and  women  who  really  blaspheme,  who  drag 
down  from  its  high  estate  pure  and  undefiled  relig 
ion,  who  besmirch  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  with  their 
unbridled  license  and  who,  instead  of  making  them 
selves  beloved,  respected  and  venerated,  cause  jeers 
and  ribald  jests  at  every  street  corner,  for  the  home, 
the  school  circle,  is  the  church  that  you  must  educate 
in.  Show  by  your  conduct  at  home  that  everything 
in  Nature  has  its  uses  and  that  the  abuse  of  it  alone 
causes  countless  millions  to  mourn  and  that  the 
abuse  is  not  confined  to  drinks,  but  also  to  words 
and  to  acts." 

During  President  Hayes'  administration  I  organ 
ized,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  a  commission  of 
nurses  to  go  down  South  to  nurse  the  yellow  fever 
patients,  in  which  President  Hayes  and  his  Cabinet 
officers  took  an  interest.  I  received  congratulations 


RUTHERFORD   B.    HAYES  107 

and  resolutions  of  thanks  from  the  Southern  people 
in  connection  therewith. 

How  General  Sherman  regarded  the  social  feature 
of  German  life  in  the  Capital  is  best  evidenced  by  the 
following  letter  written  to  me  on  the  2nd  of  August, 
1878: 

Headquarters  Army  of  the  United  States, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  August  2,  1878. 
Dear  Wolf: 

I  am  almost  sure  I  did  not  receive  this  year  the 
usual  card  for  the  Schuetzen  Fest,  but  I  had  no  rea 
son  to  complain  therefor,  for  I  have  been  out  twice 
with  friends,  both  times  receiving  a  hearty  and  cor 
dial  welcome  by  all  the  members  I  encountered.  Both 
nights  I  was  caught  by  rain.  I  will  come  out  again, 
for  these  outdoor  sports  have  for  me  a  special  charm. 
I  cannot  control  other  engagements.  One  for  to 
night,  but  tomorrow,  Saturday  night,  or  it  may  be 
Monday,  will  be  better. 

I  always  inquire  for  you,  because  somehow  I  asso 
ciate  you  with  this  annual  Fest. 

I  admire  your  spunk  in  persevering  in  spite  of 
wind  and  weather. 

Surely  now  the  sky  is  clear,  and  I  hope  you  will 
have  no  further  reason  to  complain  of  the  weather 
or  of  slim  attendance. 

Wishing  you  all  success  in  this  and  in  all  things, 
I  am,  as  always, 

Your  friend, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

The  administration  of  President  Hayes,  notwith 
standing  the  feeling  created  by  the  manner  of  the 


108  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

final  declaration  of  the  electoral  commission,  that  he 
was  legally  entitled  to  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  in  every  way  creditable  to  the 
highest  ideals  of  the  Republic.  The  cabinet  officers 
were,  as  a  whole,  unexcelled  for  ability  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  President  left  the  office 
with  honor  and  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  nation. 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD 
1881 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD 

The  Republican  party,  President  Hayes  having  def 
initely  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election, 
which  promise  he  religiously  kept,  was  naturally 
looking  for  a  candidate  who  could  win  the  suffrage 
of  the  nation.  James  G.  Elaine  and  John  Sherman 
were  again  candidates,  but  the  stalwart,  dominant 
faction  of  the  party  was  opposed  to  them  both,  and 
finally  rallied  under  the  leadership  of  Gonkling, 
Oliver  P.  Morton,  John  A.  Logan  and  Don  Cameron 
to  the  support  for  the  third  term  of  President  Grant. 
The  fight  in  Chicago  of  1880  is  still  memorable  as 
one  of  the  most  eventful  conventions  ever  held.  Three 
hundred  and  six  delegates  of  that  convention  relig 
iously  and  firmly  stood  by  their  colors  on  and  in  be 
half  of  the  nomination  of  General  Grant.  The  bal 
loting  lasted  for  days.  I  was  seated  in  the  office  of 
Carl  Schurz,  who  was  then  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
under  President  Hayes,  surrounded  by  a  number  of 
the  higher  officials  of  the  department,  when  the  first 
bulletin  of  the  balloting  came — General  Grant,  306; 
John  Sherman,  so  many;  James  G.  Elaine,  so  many; 
and  at  the  bottom  of  the  list,  James  A.  Garfield,  1, 
which  had  been  cast  by  the  editor  of  the  Wheeling, 
West  Virginia,  Intelligencer.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  reading,  I  pointed  my  finger  to  that  one  vote,  and 
said.  "There  is  the  nominee  and  the  next  President 
of  the  United  States,"  and  it  turned  out  just  as  I 
predicted. 

The  campaign  was  spirited,  the  opposition  candi 
date  being  the  peerless  hero  of  many  a  battlefield, 
Winfield  Scott  Hancock.  He  made  a  declaration 
that  the  tariff  was  a  local  question,  which  led  to  his 


110  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

defeat,  although  events  since  that  day  have  justified 
his  utterance.  I  was  again  very  active  in  this  cam 
paign,  which  led  to  the  election  of  James  A.  Gar- 
field  as  President  and  Chester  A.  Arthur  as  Vice- 
President,  but  all  the  activities  of  each  and  every 
friend  of  Garfield  would  have  been  unavailing  had 
it  not  been  for  the  loyal  and  patriotic  services  of 
U.  S.  Grant  and  Roscoe  Gonkling,  who  came  to  the 
rescue  at  the  last  moment,  making  the  celebrated 
speeches  at  Warren,  Ohio,  after  a  conference  with 
Garfield  at  Mentor. 

Scarcely  had  the  new  President  been  inaugurated 
when  the  factional  fight  for  office  became  the  crux, 
as  unfortunately  it  has  been  time  and  again  hereto 
fore,  and  the  President,  no  doubt  with  the  best  inten 
tions,  but  lacking  that  firmness  which  should  ever 
characterize  the  chief  executive  of  a  great  nation, 
yielded  to  the  narrow  and  vindictive  pleadings  of  his 
Secretary  of  State,  James  G.  Elaine,  and  the  strife 
widened  and  deepened,  until  a  crazy  fanatic  looked 
upon  himself  as  the  instrument  not  only  of  God  but 
of  the  radical  wing  of  the  Republican  party  and  shot 
the  President,  on  the  morning  of  July  2,  1881.  I  had 
known  President  Garfield  for  many  years,  had 
watched  his  career  from  every  angle  and  had  always 
a  great  admiration  for  his  scholarship,  oratory  and 
statesmanship.  He  was  a  genial,  lovable  companion, 
and  possessed  those  characteristics  which  are  to  a 
large  extent  magnetic  in  his  intercourse  with  other 
men. 

For  years  I  had  cherished  the  desire  to  visit  Egypt, 
and  some  time  after  the  election  of  Garfield  to  the 
Presidency,  during  a  conversation  with  my  friend 
Carl  Schurz,  I  told  him  that  my  health  was  somewhat 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  111 

impaired  and  that  I  would  like  to  take  a  short  vaca 
tion  to  the  Orient.  He  was  quite  enthusiastic  about 
the  idea  and  said  he  would  speak  to  Garfield  about 
it;  several  days  thereafter  he  informed  me  that  he 
had  no  doubt  but  that  I  would  be  appointed  as 
Consul-General  to  Egypt. 

Sometime  after  the  inauguration  of  Garfield  and 
Arthur,  and  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Senate,  I 
was  nominated  as  Consul-General  and  Agent  Diplo 
matique  to  Egypt,  and  on  Friday,  July  1,  1881,  I  was 
summoned  to  the  White  House  to  receive  my  tem 
porary  commission,  the  permanent  one  being  sent 
to  me  after  President  Arthur  had  renominated  me, 
the  Senate  promptly  confirming  the  renomination. 

I  found  the  President  in  the  Cabinet  Room,  sitting 
at  the  writing  table,  and  across  from  him  sat  his  Sec 
retary  of  State,  James  G.  Elaine.  The  President  said, 
"I  am  just  signing  your  commission.  I  hope  you  will 
have  a  pleasant  trip  and  find  the  land  of  your  fore 
fathers  all  that  you  expect.  Try  to  pluck  the  mystery 
out  of  the  Heart  of  Egypt,  and  come  back  to  the 
United  States,  if  such  a  thing  is  possible,  a  better  citi 
zen  than  when  you  left."  That  was  the  last  time  I 
saw  the  President,  for  long  before  I  returned,  he  had 
solved  all  the  mysteries  of  life.  The  next  day,  Satur 
day,  July  2d,  while  seated  in  my  office,  about  to  start 
to  go  to  the  Temple  for  divine  service,  prior  to  my 
leaving  for  Egypt,  a  gentleman  rushed  in  and  said 
that  the  President  had  just  been  shot  at  the  Sixth 
Street  station.  It  goes  without  saying  that  I  was 
shocked  and  unnerved,  but  I  wended  my  way  to  the 
Temple,  where  prayers  for  the  wounded  President 
were  offered,  being  no  doubt  the  only  place  of  wor- 


112  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ship  in  the  United  States  that  offered  prayers  on  that 
day. 

I  sailed  from  New  York  on  July  9th  on  the  steamer 
"Oder,"  a  tugboat  compared  with  the  great  ships  that 
now  sail  the  Atlantic.  But  I  had  a  delightful  trip, 
genial  company,  and  arrived  at  Southampton  on  the 
evening  of  the  19th.  I  went  to  the  hotel,  cabled 
home,  had  a  delicious  English  mutton  chop  and  a  mug 
of  English  ale,  and  after  ten  days  eating  on  board  the 
ship,  it  tasted  delicious.  I  was  shown  to  my  bed 
room,  and  did  not  know  until  the  next  morning  that 
it  was  the  room  and  the  bed  in  which  Artemus  Ward, 
the  great  American  humorist,  had  died.  I  knew  him 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  when  he  was  one  of  the  reporters 
of  the  Cleveland  Plain  Dealer.  From  Southampton 
I  went  to  London;  had  a  delightful  time;  went  back 
to  Southampton  to  take  the  boat  for  Havre;  from 
there  to  Trouville,  where  I  met  some  old  friends  who 
had  formerly  resided  in  the  United  States  and  who 
gave  me  a  royal  welcome;  from  there  I  went  to 
Paris;  from  Paris  to  Lyons,  France,  where  I  was  the 
guest  of  our  Consul,  Benjamin  F.  Peixotto.  After  a 
pleasant  stay  with  these  good  and  intellectual  friends, 
Mr.  Peixotto  accompanied  me  on  a  trip  to  Germany, 
as  I  desired  to  visit  my  old  home  in  the  Rhenish 
Provinces.  We  got  there  entirely  unknown ;  I  saw  the 
house  in  which  I  was  born,  and  where  my  sainted 
grandparents  and  parents  had  lived;  visited  the  ceme 
tery,  for  that  was  the  only  place  in  which  a  trace  of 
the  former  Jewish  residents  remained,  and  a  peculiar 
feeling  came  over  me  as  I  stood  near  the  crumbling 
stones,  moss-covered,  with  their  lettering  almost  in 
distinct,  when  I  remembered  the  days  of  my  child 
hood,  and  the  standing  of  the  Jews  in  Germany  then 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  113 

and  now.  I  bore  with  me  the  parchment  issued  by 
our  State  Department,  having  the  signatures  of  the 
President  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  I  realized 
what  a  contrast  there  was  between  Germany  and  the 
United  States  as  to  the  status  of  the  Jew. 

While  in  London  I  received  the  following  letter 
from  the  Chief  Rabbi  of  England,  Herman  Adler,  a 
curious  coincidence  when  referring  now  to  the  Beilis 
accusation  in  Russia.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  suc 
ceeded  in  preventing  any  uprising,  and  proved  con 
clusively  to  the  Greek  Pope  that  the  accusation  was 
unfounded : 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  deeply  regret  that  having  been  detained  by  unex 
pected  and  most  pressing  official  duties,  I  was  unable 
to  be  here  until  a  quarter  to  five.  My  secretary  faith 
fully  reported  to  me  all  that  you  had  communicated 
to  him.  I  should  like  to  have  seen  you  with  refer 
ence  to  the  blood  accusation  brought  against  us  this 
year  in  Alexandria,  the  falsehood  of  which  I  endeav 
ored  to  expose  in  a  letter  inserted  in  the  Globe.  I 
doubt  not  that  you  will  use  your  position  to  forward 
the  interests  of  our  co-religionists  in  Egypt. 

With  best  wishes  for  a  safe  and  pleasant  journey, 
I  remain, 

Yours  very  faithfully, 

H.  ADLER. 

As  it  may  interest  some  of  my  readers  to  know 
how  the  Agent  Diplomatique  and  Consul-General  to 
Egypt  is  received,  I  quote  from  my  Egyptian  reminis 
cences,  leaving  it  to  future  publications  to  give  that 
experience  in  extenso.  When  I  was  officially  re- 


114  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ceived,  it  was  a  great  event  in  my  life.  The  official 
reception  of  an  accredited  Gonsul-General  to  Egypt 
is  an  imposing  affair.  1  was  sent  for  with  a  gilded 
coach,  white  Arab  horses  and  the  Chamberlain  of 
the  Khedive. 

As  we  passed  through  the  streets  lined  with  sol 
diers  presenting  arms,  and  as  we  reached  the  gates 
of  the  Palace,  where  a  band  of  music  played  the  Star 
Spangled  Banner,  I  confess  I  was  so  moved  that  it 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  I  could  refrain  from 
tears.  There  was  one  dominant  feeling  prevailing, 
and  that  was  the  thought  of  my  dear  mother  and  the 
struggles  we  had  in  the  land  of  my  birth,  and  I  was 
overwhelmed  to  think  that  now  I  was  the  accredited 
representative  of  the  Great  Republic  of  the  West  to 
the  land  of  my  forefathers,  typifying  in  the  highest 
degree  the  possibilities  and  opportunities  of  our  coun 
try,  and  that,  as  Secretary  John  Hay,  on  a  memorable 
occasion  of  which  I  speak  in  another  chapter,  said, 
"The  God  of  Israel  never  sleeps  or  slumbers." 

The  Khedive  stood  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  as  I 
came  into  the  Palace,  welcomed  me  most  gracefully 
and  conducted  me  into  the  room  where  his  ministers 
were;  introduced  me  to  all  of  them,  and  I  addressed 
him  as  is  customary,  with  the  difference  that  I  was  the 
first  Consul-General  who  talked  impromptu,  instead 
of  reading  his  letter  of  credence,  and  it  made  quite  a 
sensation.  President  Garfield  having  died  before  I 
was  officially  received,  I  alluded  to  that  sad  event, 
and  the  Khedive  responded  in  equally  feeling  terms. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony  I  was  invited  to  a 
seat,  and  the  Khedive  did  not  sit  down  until  I  had 
been  seated,  which  seems  to  be  a  custom  of  the  coun 
try.  Coffee  was  brought  in  in  beautiful  golden  cups, 


TEWFIK  PACHA,  KHEDIVE,  1881-2. 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  115 

after  which  the  door  again  opened  and  pipes  with 
long  stems  and  amber  mouthpieces  were  brought  in, 
and  I  was  asked  to  smoke  that  which  really  meant 
the  pipe  of  peace.  I  have  never  smoked  in  my  life 
and  was  placed  in  a  peculiar  position;  not  to  smoke 
would  be  a  discourtesy,  in  fact,  it  might  lead  to  a 
breach  of  relations  between  the  two  countries.  So  I 
closed  my  eyes  heroically  and  gave  a  whiff.  It  was 
all  that  was  necessary,  as  the  Prime  Minister  after 
wards  told  me;  he  seemed  to  realize  the  embarrass 
ment  I  was  suffering. 

After  these  ceremonies  I  was  again  conducted  by 
the  Khedive  to  the  head  of  the  stairs,  where  a  sword 
was  presented  to  me,  and  where  also  I  was  to  receive 
a  horse.  Both  of  these  customs  had  been  instituted 
by  Mehemet  AH,  a  former  Khedive,  to  typify  the  hos 
pitality  and  protection  of  Egypt.  Under  the  regula 
tions  of  the  State  Department  I  could  not  take  the 
horse,  although  the  New  York  Sun  in  its  correspon 
dence  said  that  I  did  not  take  it  because  it  would  be 
too  costly  to  take  care  of.  I  presented  the  horse  to 
the  Interpreter  of  the  Palace,  and  the  sword  still 
hangs  in  my  library.  On  the  evening  of  this  memor 
able  day,  which  to  my  co-religionists  reminded  them 
of  the  feast  of  Joseph  of  old,  all  the  synagogues  had 
divine  services,  offering  up  prayers  of  thankfulness 
and  giving  vent  to  their  enthusiastic  feelings  that  one 
of  their  co-religionists,  coming  from  the  Great  Re 
public,  should  have  been  accredited  as  Minister  to 
Egypt. 

On  the  22d  day  of  February,  1882,  I  gave  in  honor 
of  Washington's  Birthday  a  banquet  at  the  New 
Hotel,  which  was  attended  by  all  Americans  then 
in  Egypt,  the  Egyptian  Ministry,  Arabi  Pacha  at  the 


116  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

head,  Leopold  Sonneman,  member  of  the  German 
Parliament,  Henry  M.  Field,  one  of  the  famous  Field 
brothers,  Wm.  Walter  Phelps,  our  minister  to  Aus 
tria,  Benjamin  F.  Peixotto,  Consul  at  Lyons,  Father 
Sylvester  Malone,  of  Brooklyn,  and  other  notable 
men,  Stone  Pacha,  and  many  of  them  accompanied 
by  ladies.  Among  other  things,  when  called  upon  to 
speak,  I  said  in  part  that  I  did  not  wish  to  waste  the 
time  of  the  honored  guests,  as  the  United  States 
speaks  for  itself.  Its  greatness,  prosperity  and  un 
surpassed  civilization  were  so  fixed  that  no  criticism 
or  innuendo  could  change  or  mar  them;  that  there 
were  two  elements  more  than  any  others  that  had 
contributed  to  bring  these  about,  and  these  were 
popular  education  and  the  social  equality  of  woman 
hood.  The  one  laid  broad  and  deep  the  foundations 
of  a  free  and  enlightened  government;  the  other  ce 
mented  and  strengthened  by  its  presence,  grace, 
beauty  and  virtue. 

"The  United  States  has  no  secret  diplomacy  to 
push  in  Egypt,"  I  continued,  "her  conduct  is  as  open 
and  broad  as  it  is  just.  The  great  end  and  aim  of 
her  diplomacy  is  'to  do  right  and  fear  not,'  and  I  say 
cheerfully  tonight,  as  I  have  so  often  repeated,  that 
Egypt  has  no  warmer  friend  than  my  country.  All 
we  ask  of  her  is  to  do  what  is  right,  to  obey  the  laws, 
to  uphold  its  obligations,  to  see  that  the  treaties  are, 
until  revised  or  abrogated,  respected,  and  then  in  all 
matters  that  aim  to  educate  and  promote  the  welfare, 
prosperity  and  greatness  of  Egypt,  we  are  her 
staunch  friend  and  well-wisher;  only  make  haste 
slowly,  be  sure  of  every  step.  The  eyes  of  the  world 
are  fixed  here;  let  no  one  see  anarchy  or  misrule, 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  117 

but  show  yourselves  worthy  of  the  past,  and  of  the 
future." 

The  Minister  Mahmoud  closed  with  a  feeling  com 
pliment  to  Consul-General  Wolf. 

After  the  death  of  President  Garfield,  memorial 
services  were  held  in  the  American  Mission  Church. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Watson  spoke  in  the  Arabic  most  flu 
ently  and  eloquently,  and  I  in  English,  as  follows: 

"Not  for  the  purpose  of  giving  an  extended  biog 
raphy — even  had  I  the  capacity — but  as  a  friend,  as 
one  who  knew  and  loved  him,  do  I  wish  to  say  in 
brief  terms,  that  which  lies  nearest  to  my  heart  of 
the  late  President  James  A.  Garfield. 

"It  was  on  the  first  of  July,  1881,  a  few  short  hours 
prior  to  the  fatal  shot,  that  I  saw  him  last.  It  was 
in  the  library  room  of  the  Executive  Mansion.  Know 
ing  that  he  was  to  depart  on  the  following  morning 
for  Long  Branch,  to  be  with  his  wife,  who  was  con 
valescent  from  a  severe  sickness,  and  knowing  that 
I  was  about  leaving  for  my  post  of  duty  which  I  now 
have  the  honor  to  fill,  I  desired  to  say  good-bye  to 
him.  I  was  admitted,  and  he,  with  that  smile  that 
delighted  and  charmed  all  who  came  in  contact  with 
him,  said,  'Well,  my  dear  boy,  this  is  singular.  I  am 
just  placing  my  name  on  your  commission;  there  is 
still  a  God  in  Israel;  I  hope  you  will  have  a  good 
time;  be  strengthened  in  mind  and  body,  and  pluck 
the  mystery  out  of  the  heart  of  Egypt.'  Alas !  should 
I  succeed  in  doing  what  he  so  kindly  wished,  he 
would  no  longer  be  living  to  receive  the  knowledge; 
but  he,  no  doubt,  has  ere  this  solved  not  only  the 
Egyptian,  but  all  the  mysteries  of  the  world. 

"Born  in  the  lowest  ranks,  in  every  relation  of 
life,  whether  as  a  farmer  boy,  a  driver  of  a  canal 


118  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

boat,  a  village  pupil,  the  student,  the  teacher,  pro 
fessor,  preacher,  state  senator,  colonel  of  volunteer 
regiment,  chief  of  staff  of  a  gallant  corps,  stemming 
the  tide  of  battle  at  Chickamauga,  member  of  Con 
gress  for  eighteen  long  years,  elected  as  United  States 
senator,  or  as  President  of  the  great  republic,  he  was 
a  man  in  the  highest  and  grandest  significance  of  the 
term. 

"Intelligent,  truthful,  classically  intellectual,  lib 
eral  to  all  shades  and  opinions,  he  was  a  type  worthy 
of  the  age  and  representing  the  characteristics  of 
the  cosmopolitan  institutions  of  the  land  which  gave 
him  birth.  And  it  was  thus  that  in  Chicago,  in  June, 
1880,  where  he  had  gone  to  the  National  Republican 
Convention  to  advocate  the  cause  of  his  friend,  the 
eminent  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  John  Sherman, 
for  President  of  the  United  States,  that  he,  as  is  so 
beautifully  told  of  another  by  our  immortal  Long 
fellow,  when  wooing  the  bride  for  his  captain,  and 
being  asked  by  the  maiden,  'Why  don't  you  speak 
for  yourself,  John,'  was  chosen  as  the  standard 
bearer  instead,  not  by  any  wish  or  tricks  of  the  poli 
tician,  but  by  the  unanimous  impulse  of  the  thought 
and  brain  of  his  great  party.  And  after  a  heated 
contest,  such  as  is  only  known  in  our  country,  he 
was  triumphantly  elected.  And  it  was  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1881,  before  thousands  of  his  countrymen 
and  countrywomen,  in  front  of  the  nation's  Capitol 
at  Washington,  that  he  took  the  oath  of  office,  rever 
ently  kissing  the  Book  of  Books,  and  then  exhibited 
that  manliness  of  character,  interspersed  with  the 
boy's  love,  by  first  kissing  his  aged  and  loving,  yet 
proud,  mother,  then  his  affectionate  wife,  and  finally 
receiving  the  congratulations  of  his  admiring  friends. 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  119 

"He  entered  upon  his  duties,  receiving,  as  few 
Presidents  had  done  before  him,  the  almost  unani 
mous  encouragement  of  his  countrymen.  And  in 
the  very  inception  of  his  labors  the  fatal  bullet  did 
its  deadly  work.  For  months  he  exhibited  to  his 
grief-stricken  country  and  to  a  sympathizing  world, 
fortitude,  self-reliance,  fearlessness,  and  all  those 
grand  attributes  which  will  hand  his  name  down  to 
generations  unborn  as  an  example  of  sublime  cour 
age  and  manly  virtue. 

"On  the  19th  of  September,  at  Long  Branch,  to 
which  place  he  had  been  taken  in  the  hope  of  restor 
ing  him  to  health,  he  passed  from  pain  to  rest,  from 
sleep  to  dreams,  to  the  music  of  that  ocean's  roar 
upon  whose  crested  waves  he  loved  to  battle.  To 
day  in  the  district  he  so  long  and  ably  represented, 
amidst  a  people  whose  confidence  and  esteem  he 
always  had,  'neath  the  branches  of  the  sighing  trees 
he  himself  had  planted,  all  that  is  mortal  of  the  late 
President  of  the  United  States,  James  A.  Garfield, 
will  be  laid  at  rest.  None  of  his  friends  need  ever 
blush  for  his  memory.  His  bereaved  family  have 
the  consolation  of  knowing  that  he  is  forever  en 
shrined  among  the  world's  purest  and  best;  the  na 
tion,  that  they  have  one  martyr  President  more  to 
stimulate  them  to  ever  do  their  duty;  and  the  world, 
a  bright  example  of  what  a  man  is  capable  of  doing 
who  never  knows  fear,  but  is  always  true  to  duty. 
The  President  is  dead.  Long  live  the  Republic.  May 
the  favor  of  Heaven  and  the  love  of  his  countrymen 
bless  and  guide  his  successor." 

The  unfortunate  fanaticism  that  characterizes  men 
in  their  differences  as  to  creed  made  itself  manifest 
in  my  Egyptian  experience.  The  American  mission- 


120  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

aries  residing  in  Egypt,  when  informed  that  a  citizen 
of  the  Jewish  faith  had  been  appointed  Consul- 
General,  were  much  alarmed,  and  tried  to  prevent 
my  confirmation,  but  I  had  the  pleasure  long  after 
ward  to  learn  that  in  their  report  to  their  church 
convention  in  Philadelphia  they  made  use  of  the  fol 
lowing  words :  "Our  Consul-General,  the  Hon.  Simon 
Wolf  of  Washington,  has  done  more  for  the  mis 
sions  and  for  the  betterment  and  uplifting  of  our 
cause  than  all  the  Consul-Generals  who  have  ever 
been  here."  This  is  almost  laughable  when  one  con 
siders  that  I  was  not  in  Egypt  as  a  Jew,  but  an 
American  citizen;  that  it  was  my  bounden  duty  to 
aid  every  cause  which  would  aid  my  country,  and 
that  the  man  who  uses  any  official  position  to  the 
detriment  of  another  is  unworthy  of  the  great  trust 
his  Government  places  in  him. 

Warren  Bey,  Surgeon  General  of  the  Egyptian 
Army,  a  native  American,  in  his  book  entitled  "Ex 
periences  of  a  Doctor  in  Three  Continents,"  says: 

"Some  few  years  since,  the  United  States  govern 
ment  tried  the  seemingly  doubtful  experiment  of 
sending  a  Hebrew  to  Egypt  as  its  official  representa 
tive.  Those  who  were  best  acquainted  with  the 
country,  or  who  thought  they  were,  held  up  their 
hands  in  horror,  and  declared  that  the  most  fatal  of 
errors  has  been  committed;  that  the  authorities  at 
Washington  had  made  a  radical  mistake.  The 
sequel  proved  it  to  be  a  measure  of  supreme  wisdom. 
The  Consul-General,  the  Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  by  his 
high  personal  character,  his  facility  of  adapting  him 
self  to  men  and  circumstances,  his  extreme  urbanity 
and  his  superlative  tact,  not  only  won  the  respect 
and  affection  of  the  Khedive  and  his  ministers,  but 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  121 

produced  an  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the 
Egyptians  which  did  more  to  elevate  the  standing  of 
his  country  and  to  eradicate  the  insane  prejudice 
against  his  race,  than  could  have  been  accomplished 
by  a  hundred  years  of  ordinary  diplomacy  and  the 
effort  of  a  thousand  moral  teachers.  It  placed  the 
seal  of  a  great  nation's  endorsement  upon  a  despised 
race;  it  swept  away  to  a  great  extent  the  prejudices 
which  had  so  long  been  the  curse  and  the  outrage  of 
Israel;  it  furnished  an  occasion  for  the  demonstra 
tion  of  the  fact  that  a  Jew  could  be  a  thorough  gen 
tleman,  an  accomplished  diplomat  and  an  enlight 
ened  humanitarian,  and  it  struck  a  blow  at  religious 
fanaticism  and  social  ostracism  which  carried  with 
it  a  lesson  of  such  practical  wisdom  as  at  once  aston 
ished  Egypt  and  delighted  the  champions  of  human 
progress  everywhere.  While  adhering  tenaciously  to 
the  Christian  faith,  I  am  not  the  less  a  champion  of 
perfect  intellectual  and  moral  enfranchisement,  and 
I  hope  to  see  the  day  when  every  man  shall  think  and 
shall  worship  according  to  his  convictions — untram- 
meled  by  prejudice,  unawed  by  prerogative  and  un 
influenced  by  aught  save  the  suggestions  of  his  own 
conscience." 

When  I  was  in  London,  Lord  Rothschild  had  sent 
me  two  letters,  accrediting  me  to  his  correspondents 
in  Alexandria  and  Cairo.  I  thus  became  quite  inti 
mate  with  Baron  Menasce  at  Alexandria  and  Baron 
Cattaue  at  Cairo,  in  whose  hospitable  homes  I  was  a 
welcome  guest  time  and  again.  Baron  Cattaue  had 
a  palatial  residence  in  Cairo,  attached  to  which  there 
was  a  synagogue,  patterned  after  the  best  style  of 
architecture.  On  the  Day  of  Atonement  he  invited 
me  as  he  did  quite  a  number  of  friends,  and  even 


122  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

some  who  were  not  ranking  with  him  either  socially 
or  otherwise,  but  whom  he  loved  to  have  from  a  re 
ligious  standpoint,  and  when  evening  came  we  were 
his  guests  at  breaking  of  the  fast.  It  was  an  im 
mense  drawing-room,  one  hundred  people  were 
standing  in  line  awaiting  the  drawing  of  the  curtain, 
when  the  host  appeared  in  his  Turkish  robes,  his 
wife  at  his  side.  Prayer  was  offered  and  we  were 
seated,  I  next  to  the  Baron.  It  was  a  wonderful 
sight.  It  has  left  a  deep  impression  and  illustrated 
the  hospitality  and  the  sincerity  of  the  host.  The 
palace  of  Baron  Menasce  at  Alexandria  was  a  veri 
table  museum  of  art,  containing  specimens  not  only 
of  the  past  but  of  the  present,  workmanship  of  the 
Abyssinians  and  Egyptians. 

The  Bazaar  in  Cairo  is  worth  a  visit.  There  the 
people  of  all  ranks  mingle  in  fraternal  comradeship, 
vieing  with  each  other  in  the  purchase  of  rare  and 
costly  articles,  such  as  rugs,  gold  cloth,  silver  and 
gold  cups,  chains  and  brooches  and  a  thousand  other 
things  that  enter  into  Oriental  life,  and  one  of  these 
small  stores,  which  looks  barely  as  large  as  one  of 
our  windows  in  a  large  department  store,  often  con 
tains  articles  valuing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dol 
lars.  The  traders  are  very  smart,  alert  and  glib  in 
offering  their  wares,  and  to  give  them  what  they  ask 
is  to  be  robbed.  You  are  always  safe — at  least  when 
I  was  there — to  offer  them  one-half  and  then  expect 
a  good  discount. 

An  incident  worth  relating  happened  while  travel 
ling  from  Stuttgart  to  Munich  on  my  way  to  Vienna 
and  Venice,  when  I  met  the  German  Consul,  who  re 
sided  at  Ismaila.  We  were  on  the  same  train.  He 
told  me  the  Crown  Prince  of  Germany,  "Unser 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  123 

Fritz,"  afterwards  Emperor  Frederick  Wilhelm,  was 
on  board,  and  would  I  like  to  meet  him.  I  said  I 
certainly  would.  He  went  away,  came  back  in  a 
few  moments  and  said  that  the  Crown  Prince  would 
be  most  happy.  I  was  more  than  charmed  with  his 
personality,  with  his  democracy,  and  with  his  genial 
good  nature.  It  was  a  sad  day  for  Germany  and  for 
civilization  when  he  was  summoned  to  eternal  rest 
at  so  early  a  stage  in  his  career.  After  we  left  him 
the  Consul  told  me  an  interesting  anecdote  in  con 
nection  with  the  Crown  Prince.  While  travelling  in 
the  Orient  he  was  in  the  habit  of  cabling  to  his  wife 
daily.  The  cablegrams  were  somewhat  expensive 
and,  as  is  well  known,  the  German  Court  has  always 
been  most  economical,  so  the  Consul  called  his  at 
tention  to  the  lavishness  of  the  cablegrams,  and  sug 
gested  that  some  expurgation  ought  to  be  made.  In 
these  cablegrams  the  Crown  Prince  always  used 
English  words,  such  as  "my  darling,"  "my  love";  so 
he  turned  to  the  Consul  and  said,  "You  can  expur 
gate  everything  except  'my  darling,'  and  'my  love' "  ; 
which  showed  the  character  and  domestic  virtues  of 
this  great  Prince. 

England  in  its  treatment  of  the  Egyptians,  in  fact 
of  all  the  people  whom  it  politically  controls,  has 
shown  its  usual  wisdom  by  not  interfering  with  the 
religious  character  and  traits  of  the  natives.  It  has 
injected  into  its  body  politic  sound  financial  habits, 
relieving  the  Fellaheen  from  onerous  and  unjust 
taxation,  and  has  brought  about  a  better  state  of 
affairs  than  ever  existed  before. 

I  also  became  acquainted  with  Maspero,  the  great 
Egyptologist,  who  had  just  discovered  the  Tombs  of 
the  Kings.  My  friend,  Samuel  S.  Cox,  who  had  been 


124  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Minister  to  Turkey,  was  on  his  way  back  to  the 
United  States,  and  stopped  in  Cairo  particularly  to 
visit  me.  Having  heard  of  this  great  discovery  and 
the  fact  that  the  mummies  were  at  the  Bulak  Mu 
seum,  Cox  said,  "Simon,  let  us  go  down  and  see 
them."  We  went.  When  Cox  saw  Rameses  he  said, 
"Simon,  speak  to  the  old  duffer."  I  promptly  re 
plied,  "My  dear  Sam,  you  are  a  college  man,  and  as 
you  are  versed  in  the  dead  languages,  and  I  am  not, 
you  speak  to  him."  Mr.  Cox  was  an  old  Ohio  friend 
in  my  boyhood  days  in  the  Tuscarawas  Valley.  I 
drove  him  to  New  Philadelphia  to  lecture  on  "Irish 
Wit  and  Humor."  That  drive  was  keenly  enjoyed, 
as  was  the  lecture,  which  was  brimful  of  good  nature 
and  choice  diction.  This  love  of  wit  and  repartee 
prevented  him  from  being  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House.  No  American  statesman  ever  surpassed  him 
in  his  love  of  justice  for  all  men.  Time  and  again 
he  aided  me  in  Congress,  and  in  the  departments  to 
secure  the  recognition  to  which  every  man  is  enti 
tled. 

Prior  to  one  of  the  contemplated  uprisings  by  the 
Egyptians,  while  seated  one  day  on  the  veranda  of 
the  Shepherd  Hotel,  talking  with  General  Stone,  and 
drinking  a  cup  of  coffee,  the  acting  Consul-General 
of  England  came  to  me  in  great  excitement  and  said, 
"My  dear  colleague,  there  is  going  to  be  an  uprising 
among  the  natives  tonight  and  they  are  going  to 
slaughter  all  the  Christians  and  Europeans."  I  drank 
my  coffee  very  complacently,  and  receiving  no  re 
sponse  from  me,  he  reiterated  his  statement,  and  I 
replied,  "How  does  that  concern  me;  I  am  neither  a 
European  nor  a  Christian." 

This   bon   mot   circulated   for   a   long   time   over 


ARABI  PASHA, 
SECRETARY  OF  WAR,  EGYPT,  1881-2. 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  125 

Egypt,  for  long  after  I  had  left  that  country.  General 
Batcheller  (who  was  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Ap 
peals)  spoke  of  it,  and  General  Horace  Porter,  two 
years  ago,  when  speaking  in  Washington  at  a  ban 
quet,  spoke  of  it;  hence  there  must  have  been  some 
merit  in  this  trenchant  reply. 

In  November,  1881,  there  was  to  have  been  another 
uprising  in  Egypt,  fostered  by  Arabi  Pacha,  which  I 
helped  to  prevent,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  in 
terview.  The  Khedive  and  his  Ministers  thanked 
me,  and  the  New  York  Herald  had  a  lengthy  cable 
gram  giving  me  credit  for  skill  and  tact: 

I  informed  the  General  that  it  was  not  idle  curios 
ity  that  had  led  me  to  desire  to  speak  with  him;  that 
I  was  in  no  way  addressing  him  in  my  official  char 
acter  of  agent  and  Gonsul-General;  that  I  had  no 
instructions  from  my  government  on  the  subject; 
that  the  United  States  was  in  no  way  mixed  up  in 
European  or  Levant  politics;  that  I  met  him  as  a 
fellowman,  as  an  individual  from  among  the  50,- 
000,000  of  free  citizens  of  a  free  country  that  had 
gained  its  liberty  by  strenuous  and  long  continued 
efforts,  of  a  country  whose  citizens  had  a  very  few 
generations  back  themselves  suffered  tyranny  and 
taken  the  bitterness  of  an  iron  yoke;  and  that  be 
lieving  him  to  be  a  true  lover  of  Egypt,  his  native 
land,  I  desired  to  appeal  to  his  patriotism  and  coun 
sel  moderation.  I  said  that  he  would  serve  his 
country  far  better  by  acting  circumspectly,  by  not 
precipitating  matters,  by  not  seeking  to  go  too  fast, 
lest  one  step  forward  might  lead  to  two  steps  back 
ward;  that  he,  the  General,  and  his  fellow-reformers 
should  remember  that  they  had  to  deal  with  the 
Trojan  Thorre  of  French  and  English  ignorance 


126  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

which  was  in  their  midst;  and  that,  if  they  had  con 
fidence  in  the  present  Khedive  and  the  Ministry  of 
Cherif  Pacha,  they  should  leave  the  direction  of 
affairs  to  those  wise  Ministers  and  not  bring  suspi 
cion  upon  themselves  and  lose  the  sympathy  of  the 
world  by  interfering  at  every  moment  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  affairs  of  the  State.  I  told  him  that  I  be 
lieved  in  the  justice  of  the  saying,  "Egypt  for  the 
Egyptians,"  but  that  any  hasty  step  or  precipitate 
demand  on  the  part  of  his  party  would  only  lead  to 
the  opposite  of  the  result  they  desired  to  attain,  for 
if  Egypt  had  thousands  of  bayonets,  England  and 
France,  and  Europe,  had  hundreds  of  thousands. 

Arabi  Pacha,  after  expressing  his  great  pleasure  at 
receiving  me,  replied  by  laying  down  the  general 
principles  as  found  in  the  introduction  to  books  on 
modern  jurisprudence.  He  said  that  man  was  a 
social  being;  that  man  could  not  live  isolated,  but 
that  men  were  dependent  one  on  the  other  in  their 
affairs;  and  that  hence  the  social  order  of  things 
called  for  laws  and  regulations  to  be  respected  by  all 
and  enforced  where  they  were  not  respected;  that 
the  books  of  the  modern  law  recognized  the  brother 
hood  of  all  men  as  shown  by  their  common  origin 
from  Adam  and  Eve,  and  that  among  the  principles 
inculcated  by  modern  jurisprudence  one  was  that  of 
hospitality  towards  strangers.  But  he  said,  unfortu 
nately,  Egypt  had  for  centuries  suffered  under  rulers 
who  respected  no  laws,  who  made  edicts  that  had 
force  only  so  long  as  the  ink  with  which  they  had 
been  written  was  still  damp;  that  he  and  his  com 
rades,  who  for  the  past  year,  more  or  less,  had  acted 
as  is  already  known  to  the  world,  wished  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  irresponsible  power  of  the  governors; 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  127 

they  sought  to  find  some  power  that  would  check  the 
rulers  themselves  when  these  latter  set  aside  the 
very  rules  they  had  made.  Speaking  of  Gherif 
Pacha,  and  the  present  Minister  of  War,  he  said  he 
and  his  comrades  had  full  confidence  in  their  recti 
tude,  and  would  obey  them.  Speaking  of  the  Khe 
dive,  he  said  that  the  Khedival  family  was  a  tyran 
nical,  rapacious  and  blood-thirsty  race,  who  had 
sought  the  help  of  Europe  and  the  Europeans  for 
their  own  selfish  ends,  of  which  the  chief  aim  was 
their  independence  of  the  Sultan.  That  Tewfik 
Pacha,  the  present  Khedive,  was  the  only  exception, 
he  being  kind,  just  and  moral,  neither  a  spendthrift 
nor  a  miser;  that  he,  the  General,  and  his  compan 
ions  respected  the  sacredness  of  the  person  of  the 
present  Khedive  as  the  Deputy  of  the  Sultan. 

Enlarging  on  the  subject  of  hospitality  to  foreign 
ers,  he  explained  that  this  did  not  mean  to  give  them 
to  eat  and  drink,  but  that  it  meant  to  allow  foreign 
ers  to  dwell  in  the  land  in  security  and  engage  in 
purely  legitimate  trade  and  industry,  and  that,  so 
far  as  he  and  his  party  were  concerned,  they  would 
not  allow  one  hair  of  a  foreigner's  head  to  be 
harmed;  but  that  they  could  not  look  on  and  see  the 
foreigner,  the  guest,  make  himself  master  of  the 
house.  Why,  said  he,  should  the  custom-house,  the 
post  office,  the  railway  and  other  departments  be 
directed  by  foreigners  and  filled  with  foreign  clerks, 
whilst  the  natives  were  quite  competent  to  do  this 
work?  He  admitted  that  in  some  departments  for 
eigners  were  needed,  as  the  natives  were  not  suffi 
ciently  advanced  in  knowledge  and  science.  To  such 
positions  he  said  they  would  willingly  admit  foreign 
employees;  and  here  he  mentioned  as  examples,  the 


128  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

case  of  General  Charles  P.  Stone,  who  had  served 
Egypt  by  actually  creating  the  general  staff  of  the 
army,  and  the  case  of  Larine  Pasha,  who  was  of  such 
great  service  in  the  government  military  school. 
Such  men,  said  he,  serve  Egypt  for  Egypt's  good  and 
should  be  well  remunerated.  The  General  dwelt  at 
some  length  on  the  rumors  in  European  papers  that 
he  had  gone  with  his  regiment  to  El-Wady  in  order 
to  be  ready  to  block  the  Suez  Canal.  He  said  that 
he  did  not  think  of  such  a  thing;  that  the  foreign 
policy  of  the  government  of  Egypt  was  not  within 
the  sphere  of  his  competence  and  that  of  his  com 
rades;  that  they  only  dealt  with  the  affairs  of  the 
home  or  internal  policy  of  the  government;  that  if 
he  received  orders  from  his  emperor  to  block  the 
canal,  he  would  as  a  soldier  obey  the  order,  but  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  decision  of  such  question. 

After  referring  to  the  historical  fact  that  in  late 
centuries  the  orientals  had  lost  the  learning  and 
science  they  possessed  of  old,  which  has  been  the 
cause  of  their  weakness,  and  to  the  correlative  fact 
that  Europe  had  become  strong  by  taking  that  knowl 
edge  from  the  orientals  and  increasing  it,  which  is 
the  cause  of  Europe's  present  strength,  the  General 
begged  me  to  remember  that  there  were  still  many 
learned  and  wise  men  among  his  party;  that  it  was 
true  his  comrades  had  chosen  him  as  their  leader  in 
the  dangerous  business  they  had  taken  into  hand,  but 
that  he  was  by  no  means  the  ablest  among  them. 
He  said  there  were  many  in  his  party  far  more 
learned  than  he.  He  did  not,  however,  say  or  even 
hint  why  it  was  that  he  had  been  chosen  as  the 
leader. 

The  General  assured  me  that  he  and  his  party  had 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  129 

always  sought,  and  would  always  seek  to  obtain  the 
redress  of  the  grievances  of  the  country  by  petitions, 
by  respectful  representations  through  the  regular 
channels  of  their  superiors,  but  that  if  all  peaceable 
means  failed,  he  and  his  companions  were  ready  to 
sacrifice  their  lives  for  the  cause  they  had  taken  up, 
and  would  enjoin  upon  their  children  and  children's 
children  to  persevere  in  the  same  course,  namely,  to 
put  a  stop  to  tyranny,  misrule  and  unwarranted 
aggression. 

I  repeated  in  the  strongest  terms  my  counsel  to 
moderation  and  my  advice  that  he  and  his  party 
should  trust  to  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  and  honor 
of  Cherif  Pacha,  and  to  the  known  rectitude  and 
moderation  of  the  Khedive.  I  again  repeated  that  I 
had  spoken  as  a  private,  disinterested  individual,  the 
citizen  of  a  country  that  had  no  hand  in  the  politics 
of  the  Orient,  and  in  no  way  under  instructions  from 
my  government.  *  *  * 

My  readers  will  have  noticed  that  I  have  tried  in 
every  way  to  steer  clear  of  the  political,  economic 
and  historical  conditions  of  Egypt,  and  that  I  have 
been,  to  a  large  extent,  reminiscent.  I  could  go  on 
telling  many  more  incidents  but  deem  what  I  have 
given  you  sufficient  to  whet  your  desire  to  visit  that 
wonderful  country  which,  at  one  time,  focused  the 
attention  of  the  world — a  country  that  saw  Caesar, 
Anthony  and  Cleopatra  at  the  height  of  their  power. 

During  my  whole  stay  I  enjoyed  every  moment, 
under  all  conditions,  and  in  reproducing  some  of  the 
incidents  the  same  pleasure  has  been  afforded. 
Wonderful  country,  wonderful  scenery,  traces  of  the 
past,  of  the  new  present,  and  let  me  hope  and  trust, 


130  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

of  the  great  future.  No  one  can  gainsay  the  fact 
that  England  has  had  a  civilizing  influence  on  condi 
tions,  and  has  brought  the  spirit  of  the  modern  into 
the  memory  of  the  ancient.  Lord  Cromer  deserves, 
as  he  has  so  eminently  received,  the  encomium  and 
gratitude,  not  only  of  his  own  country,  but  of  all 
countries.  He  has  brought  into  Egypt  new  light, 
and  has  recognized  not  only  the  broadening  effect 
of  the  humanities,  but  the  right  of  each  and  every 
human  being  to  enjoy  the  liberty  of  conscience  that 
is  one  of  the  great  factors  of  English  rule — to  con 
serve  the  spirit  of  comity  that  should  exist  among 
those  who  differ  in  creed.  It  is  the  strong  link  that 
joins  a  mother  country  with  her  colonies;  and  we 
have  followed  that  wise  course  in  countries  we  have 
attached  to  us,  either  by  purchase  or  the  result  of 
war.  May  this  spirit  of  national  and  international 
interchange  continue  to  the  end  of  strengthening  the 
ties  of  brotherhood  among  men  and  the  comradeship 
born  of  the  spirit  of  appreciation;  so  that  no  matter 
where  we  are  born,  or  what  faith  we  proclaim,  we 
shall  be  welded  together  for  the  public  weal;  so  that 
the  walls  of  prejudice,  born  largely  of  ignorance  and 
fanaticism,  shall  crumble  and  disappear;  and  that 
the  anthems  of  praise  and  prayer  ascending  to  the 
Great  I  Am  shall  not  mar,  but  make,  the  music  of 
the  future. 

The  American  representative  in  Egypt  differs  hap 
pily  from  any  of  his  colleagues,  inasmuch  as  the 
United  States  does  not  have  any  politics  in  that  coun 
try.  We  are  represented  in  the  courts  of  justice  by 
international  treaties.  As  independent  observers 
and  thinkers,  our  judgment  is  more  potent  and  more 
to  be  relied  on  than  those  who  are  playing  politics 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD  131 

on  the  chessboard  of  nations.  It  was  a  brief  expe 
rience  for  an  untried  diplomat,  but  brief  as  it  was, 
the  memory  of  it  has  outlasted  more  than  thirty- 
seven  years  of  my  life  and  is  as  vivid  and  intense 
today  as  in  the  days  of  the  glorious  sunrises  and 
sunsets  that  gilded  the  edges  of  the  Nile  and  that 
brought  back  from  the  tombs  of  the  desert  the  im 
ages  of  the  great  Pharaohs  who  at  one  time  domi 
nated  the  East. 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR 

As  I  had  never  contemplated  staying  in  the  diplo 
matic  service,  and  as  I  was  absent  without  my  family, 
I  resigned,  and  in  May,  1882,  returned  to  the  United 
States.  President  Arthur,  in  accepting  the  resigna 
tion,  spoke  in  most  flattering  terms  of  my  usefulness 
and  service  while  occupying  the  position  I  had  re 
signed,  and  regretted  that  owing  to  my  wish  he  was 
compelled  to  accept  the  same.  The  mission  to 
Egypt  was  of  a  most  pleasant  character;  the  duties 
of  the  Gonsul-General  are  very  slight  and  limited 
mostly  to  courtesies,  official  and  social,  to  be  ex 
tended  to  American  tourists. 

On  my  return  to  Washington  I  called  at  once  upon 
President  Arthur,  who  received  me  graciously  and 
reiterated  verbally  what  he  had  so  beautifully  ex 
pressed  in  writing.  I  had  known  President  Arthur 
for  many  years,  and  especially  when  he  was  Collec 
tor  of  the  Port  of  New  York.  I  had  always  esteemed 
him  highly,  which  estimate  was  more  than  confirmed 
during  his  term  of  office.  Roscoe  Conkling,  after 
his  defeat  in  Chicago  in  1880,  when  asked  whom  he 
wanted  as  Vice-President  with  Garfield,  contemptu 
ously  said,  "I  don't  care  whom  you  take."  When 
someone  mentioned  Arthur,  he  said,  "Oh,  yes,  he 
will  do  as  well  as  any  other;"  and  the  Imperial  Jove 
of  New  York  politics  never  dreamed  that  events 
would  so  shape  themselves  that  the  man  whom  he 
had  politically  created  would  become  the  creator 
himself  and  prove  so  highly  satisfactory  to  the 
people. 

I  had  the  honor  and  privilege  of  seeing  President 
Arthur  often  on  matters  of  importance  affecting  the 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR 
1881-1885 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR  133 

Jewish  people;  numerous  appointments  he  graci 
ously  made,  some  to  West  Point,  some  to  Annapolis, 
and  he  treated  me  whenever  he  had  an  opportunity 
to  do  so  in  that  spirit  of  true  Americanism  which  is 
the  bedrock  of  the  Republic. 

To  illustrate  his  democracy  and  tact,  I  remember 
being  with  him  one  day  discussing  a  matter  of  some 
moment,  when  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Wm.  E. 
Chandler,  stepped  into  the  room,  and  shortly  after 
wards,  the  great  wit  of  New  York,  Wm.  R.  Traverse. 
It  was  about  luncheon  time,  and  the  President,  when 
he  had  concluded  with  all  of  us,  said,  *'Gentlemen, 
it  is  time  to  go  to  luncheon.  Let  us  go,"  extending 
his  hand  to  me  in  particular.  I  instinctively  felt  that 
the  other  two  gentlemen  had  been  invited  and  that  I 
happened  to  be  an  interloper,  and  therefore  very 
promptly  and  very  courteously  declined  the  invita 
tion.  Time  and  again  Secretary  Chandler  has  told 
me  that  the  action  of  mine  was  most  tactful  and  that 
the  President  at  the  luncheon  table  spoke  of  it  with 
a  great  deal  of  feeling. 

Edward  Lasker,  the  great  German  parliamenta 
rian,  while  on  his  visit  to  the  United  States,  came 
to  Washington  and  we  gave  him  a  banquet,  to 
which  the  President  had  been  invited.  Owing  to 
circumstances,  he  could  not  come,  but  wrote  a  beau 
tiful  letter  in  recognition  of  the  services  Lasker  had 
rendered  to  humanity.  Lasker  stopped  at  Welckers' 
famous  hostelry,  which  was  directly  opposite  the 
German  Embassy.  The  German  Minister  of  that 
period  (there  were  no  Ambassadors)  was  Captain 
von  Eisendecker,  who  had  been  transferred  to 
Washington  from  Mexico.  I  was  intimate  with  him, 
having  dined  there  time  and  again,  and  thought  it 


134  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

would  be  a  gracious  thing  on  the  part  of  Eisendecker 
to  invite  Lasker  to  dinner,  to  which  he  at  once 
promptly  replied,  "Why  surely,  and  you  must  come 
also."  In  the  evening  I  called  for  Lasker  and  we 
went  to  dinner.  The  Associated  Press  became  aware 
of  this  fact  and  it  was  telegraphed  all  over  the  coun 
try.  In  a  very  short  time  Eisendecker  was  recalled 
and  degraded  to  a  minor  position. 

The  day  after  the  dinner  at  the  Embassy  I  escorted 
Lasker  to  the  White  House  and  while  there  waiting 
to  see  the  President,  Lasker  was  taken  ill  and  we 
were  prevented  from  seeing  him.  That  attack  was 
the  precursor  of  what  happened  so  lamentably  very 
shortly  afterwards  in  the  City  of  New  York. 

In  1890,  when  in  Berlin,  I  called  on  our  Ambassa 
dor,  William  Walter  Phelps,  who  had  been  my  guest 
in  Egypt,  and  Phelps  asked  me  whether  I  didn't  wish 
to  see  Bismarck.  I  said,  "Yes,  it  would  be  a  matter 
of  reminiscence,  if  not  gratification."  Two  days 
afterwards  Phelps  sent  for  me,  and  the  moment  I 
entered  the  room  he  commenced  to  laugh,  and  before 
he  could  reply  I  said,  "Lasker."  He  said,  "You  must 
be  a  mind-reader,  my  dear  friend;  Bismarck  will  not 
see  you  on  account  of  the  Lasker  affair  at  Washing 
ton." 

The  dinner  incident  and  that  which  followed  led 
to  the  famous  resolution  introduced  by  Congressman 
Ochiltree  of  Texas,  in  which  the  United  States  was 
to  welcome  Lasker  and  extol  his  great  achievements 
in  the  German  Parliament,  a  direct  blow  against  Bis 
marck.  It  was  supposed  by  everybody,  including  my 
friend  Eisendecker,  that  I  had  written  or  inspired  the 
resolution.  I  had  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
It  was  Lasker's  brother,  Morris  Lasker,  of  Galveston, 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR  135 

Texas,  who  lately  died,  who  undoubtedly  got  Ochil- 
tree  to  offer  it,  and  it  required  a  great  deal  of  argu 
ment  on  my  part  to  convince  the  Minister  that  I  was 
not  the  author,  for  while  he  was  very  friendly  to  me, 
yet  he  was  placed  in  a  peculiar  position,  and  had  to 
make  a  show  of  being  offended,  even  if  he  was  not. 
The  convention  of  1884  unfortunately  nominated 
James  G.  Elaine  as  the  candidate  of  the  Republican 
party.  Had  they  been  wise  in  their  day  and  gener 
ation  they  would  have  nominated  Chester  A.  Arthur, 
and  he  unquestionably  would  have  been  elected, 
while  Elaine  was  defeated.  I  have  known  many 
Presidents  intimately,  both  from  an  official  as  well 
as  a  social  standpoint,  and  there  never  was  one  su 
perior  in  all  those  graces  of  a  true  gentleman  to 
Chester  A.  Arthur.  He  bore  himself  with  a  dignity 
that  was  worthy  of  the  best  traditions  of  the  Republic 
and  has  left  an  enviable  record  in  the  annals  of  his 
country. 


GROVER  CLEVELAND 

In  1875  the  Council  of  the  Union  of  American  He 
brew  Congregations  met  in  the  City  of  Buffalo.  My 
friend,  Sigmund  Levin,  was  one  of  the  Committee  on 
Entertainment  and  during  my  stay  he  asked  we 
whether  I  didn't  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  one 
of  their  leading  citizens.  I  said,  "Certainly,  with 
pleasure."  We  went  to  luncheon  at  a  restaurant  and 
there  I  was  introduced  to  Grover  Cleveland,  who  as 
far  as  I  now  remember,  was  at  that  time  Sheriff  of 
Erie  County.  Mr.  Cleveland  was  playing  pinochle, 
and  was  passionately  fond  of  the  game. 

As  is  usual  with  American  politicians  and  states 
men,  they  have  excellent  memories,  for  when  I  called 
on  Mr.  Cleveland  after  he  had  been  inaugurated  as 
President  of  the  United  States,  among  other  pleasant 
things  he  said,  "Mr.  Wolf,  I  wish  we  could  have  a 
game  of  pinochle  here,  but  fear  the  demands  on  my 
time  will  prevent  me  from  enjoying  that  pleasure." 

Mr.  Cleveland  in  due  course  of  time  was  elected 
Mayor  of  Buffalo,  Governor  of  New  York  and  then 
President  of  the  United  States. 

In  my  sketch  of  President  Arthur,  I  made  the  ob 
servation  that  had  he  instead  of  Blaine  been  nomi 
nated  in  1884,  Mr.  Cleveland  might  not  have  been 
elected.  Unfortunately  the  personal  qualifications  of 
Mr.  Blaine  led  to  a  serious  defection  in  the  Republi 
can  ranks.  Leading  Republican  journals  revolted 
against  the  nomination,  and  the  personal  popularity 
of  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who  by  the  way  was  also 
an  important  factor,  not  to  speak  of  the  political 
animosity  of  Roscoe  Conkling,  won  the  fight.  I  shall 
not  forget  the  morning  after  the  election  when  I 


GROVER  CLEVELAND 
1885-1889  AND  1893-1897 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  137 

met  Senator  Gonkling  at  the  New  York  Club.  He 
was  stretched  full  length  on  a  lounge,  and  when  he 
saw  me,  sneeringly  said,  "Well,  have  you  elected 
your  candidate?"  and  I  promptly  answered,  "No,  but 
at  least  I  have  not  betrayed  my  party,"  to  which  he 
made  no  response. 

Mr.  Cleveland  was  the  first  Democratic  President 
since  the  retirement  from  office  of  James  Buchanan, 
and  many  feared  that  my  relations  with  the  adminis 
tration  and  with  the  President  might  be  of  such  a 
character  as  to  be  detrimental  to  the  interests  I  was 
serving,  but  I  can  state  with  absolute  veracity  that 
no  such  action  was  taken;  on  the  contrary,  if  any 
thing,  I  was  treated  with  greater  courtesy  than  ever 
before.  I  saw  President  Cleveland  time  and  again 
on  many  subjects  and  was  always  received  most 
graciously,  listened  to  patiently,  and  wherever  it  was 
consistent  with  the  policy  of  the  Government  and 
diplomatic  usage,  I  had  no  difficulty  in  securing 
favorable  result  either  from  the  President  direct  or 
from  the  different  departments  of  the  Government. 
This  is  in  keeping  with  the  true  spirit  of  American 
ism.  Differences  in  politics  during  a  heated  cam 
paign  must  be  relegated  to  the  rear  when  the  suc 
cessful  candidate  is  administering  the  Government 
for  all  the  people  and  not  for  his  own  political 
organization. 

Mr.  Cleveland's  private  secretary,  Daniel  S.  La- 
mont,  was  an  important  factor,  in  not  only  shaping 
the  course  of  the  administration  but  in  directing  in 
dividual  callers  to  a  proper  realization  of  their  wants. 

On  the  20th  day  of  September,  1893,  I  spoke  at  the 
Jewish  Temple,  Atonement  Day  services.  The  clos 
ing  paragraph  of  that  address  is  quoted  herewith: 


138  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

"I  have  no  defense  to  offer  on  account  of  my  faith, 
as  Webster  said  of  Massachusetts,  so  I  say  of  the 
Jew.  'There  he  stands,'  from  every  standpoint  you 
will  find  him  your  equal.  There  is  no  longer  any 
sense  or  reason  to  bring  out  the  second-hand  stock 
of  the  parrot  orators,  as  to  what  the  Jew  has  done 
in  this  or  that  department  of  life.  He  is  no  better 
or  worse  for  being  a  Jew.  He  claims  to  be  your 
equal  in  every  branch  of  human  achievement.  My 
dear  friends,  he  claims  this  as  a  man  and  not  as  a 
Jew. 

"May  God  so  endow  us  as  to  give  all  that  charity 
of  judgment  which  is  the  grandest  Gem  in  the  Cor 
onet  of  Deity.  The  day  of  Atonement  for  the  Jew 
has  indeed  come,  the  Christian  owes  it  to  us  for 
Centuries  of  prejudice,  let  us  prove  worthy  of  the 
day  and  its  import. 

"Finally  let  us  say,  that  to  have  a  united  country 
we  must  have  a  united  purpose,  to  have  loyal  citizens, 
you  must  treat  all  loyally,  if  our  institutions  are 
worth  preserving,  they  must  be  respected,  loved,  not 
merely  tolerated.  If  the  citizenship  of  the  palmiest 
days  of  Rome  and  Greece  is  again  to  spring  eternal 
out  of  the  happiness  of  the  people,  then  the  Jew  and 
Christian  must  stand  upon  a  common  platform  of 
recognized  worth,  must  grasp  each  others  hands  as 
brothers,  singing  as  they  do,  the  songs  of  the  Psalm 
ists;  reciting  as  they  do,  the  inspired  proverbs  of 
the  past,  looking  forward  as  they  do,  to  the  emanci 
pation  of  the  whole  human  race,  and  wishing  as  they 
do,  to  sow,  not  only  by  faith,  but  by  act,  the  seed 
which  when  grown  and  ripened,  shall  fructify  the 
whole  earth  and  be  a  blessing  to  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof." 

A  copy  of  this  address  was  sent  to  President  Cleve 
land,  which  he  acknowledged  as  follows: 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  139 

White  House,  Sept.  24,  1893. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

With  pleasure  I  have  read  your  address  pro 
nounced  at  the  Jewish  Temple.  It  is  in  every  way 
worthy  of  the  day  and  of  the  people  it  glorifies. 

Sincerely, 

GROVER  CLEVELAND 

President  Cleveland,  although  stronger  than  his 
party,  was  defeated  for  immediate  re-election,  Presi 
dent  Harrison  succeeding  him.  In  due  course  of 
legal  time  President  Cleveland  was  re-elected,  and 
during  that  term  the  same  degree  of  intimacy  and 
courtesy  as  had  marked  the  first  administration  con 
tinued. 

During  Mr.  Cleveland's  second  term,  I  published 
"The  American  Jew  as  Patriot,'  Soldier  and  Citizen." 
Among  the  first  to  whom  I  sent  a  copy  with  my  com 
pliments  was  President  Cleveland,  who  acknowl 
edged  its  receipt  as  follows : 

Executive  Mansion, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  Dec.  23, 1895. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Dear  Sir:  Please  accept  my  thanks  for  a  copy  of 
your  book  entitled  "The  American  Jew  as  Patriot, 
Soldier  and  Citizen,"  which  you  kindly  sent  me  a 
short  time  ago.  I  hope  I  may  be  able  at  a  future 
time  to  read  the  volume  carefully  for  the  slight  ac 
quaintance  I  have  already  given  it,  convinces  me 
that  it  challenges  fairness  and  justice  for  a  class  of 
our  citizens  to  whom  they  have  not  always  been 
accorded. 

Yours  very  truly, 

GROVER  CLEVELAND 


140  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

With  regard  to  this  book,  I  may  here  insert  a  brief 
extract  from  the  synopsis  of  the  work  included  in 
the  report  of  the  American  Jewish  Historical  Society 
for  the  year  1895  and  the  introductory  paragraph  of 
the  lengthy  review  of  the  work  published  in  the  New 
York  Sun. 

THE   AMERICAN   JEW   AS   PATRIOT,   SOLDIER 
AND  CITIZEN. 

For  some  years  I  have  been  engaged  in  the  collec 
tion  of  materials  for  the  preparation  of  a  work  prin 
cipally  designed  to  show  what  part  was  taken  by 
American  Jews  during  the  Civil  War.  This  work  is 
now  approaching  completion,  and  it  affords  me 
great  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  lay  some  of  the  re 
sults  attained  before  this  society. 

Whether  the  task  would  have  been  undertaken 
had  I  foreseen  its  almost  insurmountable  difficulties 
I  am  not  prepared  to  say,  for  the  further  the  work 
advanced  the  more  numerous  were  the  obstacles. 

From  some  States  I  am  grieved  to  say  I  was  not 
able  to  get  any  information;  from  others,  so  little  as 
to  be  really  painful  on  account  of  its  being  so  in 
significant  and  so  far  below  the  undoubted  facts. 
From  some  States  the  information,  if  not  quite  up 
to  the  mark,  is  rather  gratifying.  My  sincere  thanks 
are  due  to  my  friends  in  the  Southern  States  for  full 
and  complete  reports  received. 

Virginia  furnished  113  men,  of  whom  15  were 
wounded  and  2  died  in  captivity,  a  total  loss  of  over 
25  per  cent. 

The  list  of  North  Carolina  gives  52  men,  of  whom 
3  were  wounded  and  killed,  2  captured,  8  died  from 
wounds  at  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  making  a  loss  of  33  per  cent. 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  141 

South  Carolina  furnished  177  soldiers,  of  whom  20 
were  wounded,  29  killed  and  5  captured,  suffering 
a  loss  of  over  30  per  cent. 

Tennessee  furnished  38  men,  of  whom  3  were 
wounded,  7  killed  and  2  died  in  captivity,  a  loss  of 
almost  32  per  cent. 

I  have  at  this  date  7,243  men  on  my  list;  but  over 
1,600  names  can  not  be  properly  classified  as  to  State, 
regiment,  and  period  of  service. 

On  the  12th  day  of  July,  1862,  President  Lincoln 
gave  his  approval  to  an  act  of  Congress  authorizing 
the  President  to  cause  to  be  prepared  2,000  "medals 
of  honor,"  to  be  presented  to  such  non-commissioned 
officers  and  privates  as  shall  most  distinguish  them 
selves  by  their  gallantry  in  action  and  other  soldier 
like  qualities  during  the  present  insurrection. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  how  many  soldiers  of 
the  Jewish  faith  were  honored  by  such  medals,  but 
I  can  mention  seven  who  have  come  under  my 
notice. 

First.  Leopold  Karpeles,  color-sergeant  of  the  57th 
Massachusetts  Infantry,  at  the  battle  of  North  Anna 
proved  his  ability  to  defend  the  flag  under  a  terrific 
fire  from  the  enemy.  Although  seriously  wounded 
he  held  the  colors  aloft  until  weakness  from  loss  of 
blood  forced  him  to  give  them  to  a  comrade.  Ser 
geant  Karpeles  has  high  testimonials  from  his  su 
perior  officers  for  bravery,  daring  and  discipline. 

Second.  Benjamin  B.  Levy  enlisted  at  the  age  of 
16  as  a  drummer-boy  in  the  1st  New  York  Volun 
teers.  While  his  regiment  was  stationed  at  New 
port  News  he  was  detailed  as  orderly  for  General 
Mansfield.  While  he  was  carrying  despatches  on 
board  the  steamer  "Express"  to  General  Wool  at 


142  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Fortress  Monroe,  the  steamboat  was  attacked  by  the 
Confederate  gunboat  "Seabird";  the  steamboat  with 
all  on  board  was  in  imminent  danger  of  capture, 
when  young  Levy  saved  the  steamer  by  cutting  loose 
a  water-schooner  they  had  in  tow.  For  his  prompt 
action  Levy  was  highly  complimented  by  Generals 
Mansfield  and  Wool. 

At  Charles  City  Cross  Roads  he  saved  two  of  the 
colors  of  his  regiment  from  capture,  for  which  act  he 
was  promoted  on  the  field  by  General  Kearney  to 
color-sergeant  of  his  regiment. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  he  re-enlisted  in  the 
40th  New  York  (Mozart)  regiment  and  was  seriously 
wounded  at  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness.  He  was 
appointed  by  President  Lincoln  to  the  New  York 
Custom-House.  There  he  still  is. 

Third.  Sergeant-major  and  Adjutant  Abraham 
Cohn  enlisted  as  private  in  the  6th  New  Hampshire 
Infantry.  For  distinguished  services  he  was  pro 
moted  step  by  step  to  the  post  of  Adjutant.  He 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

Adjutant  Cohn  received  the  medal  of  honor  from 
the  Assistant  Adjutant  General's  office,  and  he  was 
subsequently  the  recipient  of  the  following  highly 
gratifying  communication : 

"ADJUTANT  GENERAL'S  OFFICE,  WASHINGTON, 

"August  14,  1879. 

"The  medal  mentioned  within  was  given  for  con 
spicuous  gallantry  displayed  in  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness,  in  rallying  and  forming,  under  heavy 
fire,  disorganized  troops;  also  for  bravery  and  cool 
ness  in  carrying  orders  to  the  advance  lines  under 
murderous  fire  in  the  battle  of  the  Mine,  July  30, 
1864. 

(Signed)  "S.  N.  BENJAMIN, 

"Assistant  Adjutant  General." 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  143 

Fourth.  David  Orbanski,  of  the  58th  Ohio  Infantry, 
received  the  medal  of  honor  for  distinguished  brav 
ery  and  coolness  under  heavy  fire  at  Shiloh,  Tenn., 
and  at  Vicksburg,  Miss. 

Fifth.  Henry  Heller,  of  Company  A,  66th  Ohio  In 
fantry,  earned  the  medal  of  honor  for  daring  brav 
ery  at  Chancellorsville. 

Sixth.  Abraham  Grunwalt,  of  Company  G,  104th 
Ohio  Infantry,  earned  his  medal  of  honor  at  Frank 
lin,  Tenn.,  Nov.  30,  1864,  in  the  capture  of  the  corps 
headquarters'  flag. 

Seventh.  Corporal  Isaac  Gans,  of  the  2d  Ohio  Cav 
alry,  for  bravery  displayed  on  the  battlefield  was 
appointed  escort  to  a  stand  of  colors  captured  by 
the  Third  Division. 

The  following  is  a  table,  by  States,  of  the  Jewish 
soldiers  who  served  in  the  Civil  War: 


#3  *    * 

STATES                            fc  *§       ^            £       .S 

2  g      ^           a,      U 

^  Is      u    a 

Alabama    132  9      12        2       .. 

Arkansas   53  . .         1 

United  States  Army 135  2        4        1 

Confederate  States  Army. .       9       

Connecticut 17       

California    28      

District  of  Columbia 3       

Georgia    137  11      15        4       .. 

Iowa  12  1        1 

Indiana 512  7      12        2       .. 

Illinois   1076  43      56       .. 

Kansas   9  3        1 

Kentucky  22        2       


144  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 


•d  _j  >• 

i     1  ,,      1  S 

*5                   3  .«                  -^  T3 

W               I  IJ  S 


Louisiana 224  10      21        5 

Maryland 7        2       

Missouri  239  7        7 

Massachusetts 17  2       . .       . . 

Michigan   210  . .       22 

Mississippi 156  5      12        1 

Maine   1       

North  Carolina 52  4        3        8        2 

New  Jersey 18  . .         1        1 

New  Mexico 2  . .         1 

New  York 1882  26      29        8       .. 

United  States  Navy 76  2        2 

Confederate  States  Navy.  .11       

Nevada 3       

New  Hampshire 2        1       

Ohio    1134  16      52       .. 

Pennsylvania    528  54      19      11 

Rhode  Island 4       

Revolutionary  War 40       

South  Carolina 117  20      29        5       .. 

United  States  Staff 16       

Confederate  States  Staff. . .     14       

Tennessee   38  3        7        1        1 

Texas 104  15      13        2       .. 

Vermont 1       

Virginia  113  15      12        2       .. 

West  Virginia 7        1       

Wisconsin   20  3        4 

Washington  Territory 1       

Wyoming  Territory 1       

Soldiers   7243 

Wounded 316 

Killed   336 

Captured 53 

Died  in  prison 17 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  145 

To  this  are  added  brief  sketches  of  a  few  Jews 
who  served  in  the  earlier  wars  of  the  United  States : 

Major  Lewis  Bush  became  1st  Lieutenant  of  the 
6th  Pennsylvania  Battalion  in  January,  1776,  and 
Captain  the  following  June.  He  was  transferred  to 
Colonel  Thomas  Hartley's  additional  Continental 
regiment  January,  1777,  and  was  commissioned 
Major  in  March,  1777.  That  he  proved  a  brave  sol 
dier  his  active  part  in  a  number  of  battles  affords 
complete  evidence.  At  the  battle  of  Brandywine  in 
September,  1777,  he  received  wounds  of  so  serious  a 
character  as  to  prove  fatal  a  few  days  after. 

Major  Alfred  Mordecai  was  one  of  the  recognized 
authorities  in  the  military  world  in  the  field  of  scien 
tific  research  and  in  practical  application  of  mechan 
ical  deduction  to  war  purposes.  He  served  in  the 
Mexican  War,  and  was  sent  by  our  Government  to 
witness  and  report  upon  the  operations  in  the 
Crimea.  Major  Mordecai  was  the  author  of  "Ex 
periments  on  Gunpowder"  and  other  works. 

Commodore  Uriah  Phillips  Levy,  one  of  the  best- 
known  American  naval  officers  of  former  days,  was 
at  the  time  of  his  death  the  highest  ranking  officer 
in  the  United  States  Navy.  He  served  in  the  war  of 
1812,  being  the  master  of  the  brig  of  war  Argus, 
which  ran  the  blockade  to  France,  with  Mr.  Craw 
ford,  the  American  minister  to  that  country,  on 
board.  The  Argus  destroyed  twenty-one  British 
merchantmen.  In  recognition  of  his  valuable  serv 
ices  to  the  nation  the  Common  Council  of  New  York 
City  honored  him  with  the  freedom  of  the  city.  Com 
modore  Levy  vigorously  opposed  the  application  of 
the  lash  to  seamen.  Upon  his  tombstone  at  Cypress 
Hill  is  recorded  the  fact  that  he  was  "The  father  of 


146  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

the  law  for  the  abolishment  of  the  barbarous  prac 
tice  of  corporal  punishment  in  the  Navy  of  the 
United  States." 

"THE  AMERICAN  JEW. 
From  the  Sunday  New  York  Sun. 

"To  combat  one  of  the  most  obstinate  of  preju 
dices  and  to  promote  enlightenment  on  a  subject 
concerning  which  ignorance  has  become  unpardon 
able  is  the  purpose  of  the  book  entitled  The  Ameri 
can  Jew,  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and  Citizen,  by  Simon 
Wolf  (Brentano's) .  The  author  has  undertaken  to 
delineate  the  part  taken  by  his  co-religionists  in  the 
development  of  the  United  States.  He  believes  it 
entirely  possible  to  prove  that,  from  an  early  stage 
of  American  history  down  to  the  present  day,  men 
of  the  Hebrew  race  and  faith  have  figured  in  the  van 
of  the  country's  progress.  The  work  of  accumulat 
ing  the  evidence  has  been  performed  by  Mr.  Wolf, 
while  the  task  of  editing  the  material  has  been  in 
trusted  to  Mr.  Edward  Levy.  The  two  co-laborers 
have,  between  them,  accomplished  results  which  de 
serve  serious  attention  on  the  part  not  only  of  their 
co-religionists,  but  of  the  whole  American  commu 
nity. 

"Mr.  Wolf  tells  us,  in  an  introduction,  that  he  was 
first  impelled  to  the  researches  of  which  the  volume 
before  us  is  the  outcome  by  reading  a  letter  printed 
in  the  North  American  Review,  in  December,  1891, 
the  writer  of  which  asserted  that  he  could  not  re 
member  meeting  during  the  Civil  War  a  single  Jew 
in  uniform,  and  had  never  found  an  old  soldier  who 
recalled  serving  with  Jews.  This  assertion  was  an- 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  147 

swered  by  Mr.  Wolf  in  The  Washington  Post,  by  an 
enumeration  of  hundreds  of  Jewish  officers  and  sol 
diers,  culminating  in  the  averment,  on  information 
and  belief,  that  from  6,000  to  8,000  soldiers  of  the 
Jewish  faith  served  in  the  Union  Army  alone.  Ob 
serving  that  his  letter  was  copied  and  discussed  by 
leading  American  newspapers,  Mr.  Wolf  determined 
to  compile  as  full  a  list  as  possible  of  American  citi 
zens  of  Jewish  faith  who  had  fought  in  the  war  of 
the  rebellion,  and  to  add  thereto  a  record  of  many 
other  typical  instances  of  their  useful  energy  and 
public  spirit  in  the  civil  walks  of  life.  The  task 
which  he  had  imagined  would  require  no  more  than 
six  months  has  occupied  more  than  four  years  of 
continuous  labor.  Even  now  the  author  regards  the 
product  of  his  researches  as  exceedingly  inadequate; 
it  undoubtedly  represents,  however,  the  most  valu 
able  contribution  to  an  interesting  chapter  of  Ameri 
can  history  that  has  yet  been  given  to  the  world." 

The  following  letter  received  from  the  celebrated 
publicist,  statesman  and  scholar,  John  Bigelow,  is 
interesting,  as  it  was  the  opinion  of  a  man  who  had 
given  great  service  all  the  world  over: 

21  Gramercy  Park,  December  16,  1905. 
Honorable  Simon  Wolf, 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  much  your  debtor  for  a  copy  of 
your  exhaustive  account  of  the  part  which  the  Amer 
ican  Jew  has  had  in  building  up  republican  institu 
tions  in  the  United  States.  It  contains  much  valu 
able  information  that  was  new  to  me,  and  timely 
evidence  of  national  obligations  which  have  been 
but  imperfectly  appreciated;  like  the  heroes  before 
Agamemnon — carent  quid  vate  sacro. 

Your  work  gives  a  striking  vindication  of  the  in 
exorable  logic  of  Macaulay's  speech  in  the  English 


148  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Parliament  in  1833  in  support  of  the  bill  for  the  re 
moval  of  disabilities  of  the  Jews  in  England.  It  is 
a  curious  illustration  of  human  perversity  that  your 
race  has  been  persistently  persecuted  almost  exclu 
sively  by  the  nations  who  profess  to  have  derived 
their  religious  opinions  through  revelations  first 
made  to  your  race  and  upon  which  all  their  confes 
sions  of  faith  rest  and  are  absolutely  dependent.  If 
as  St.  John  proclaimed  nearly  nineteen  centuries  ago 
— "The  truth  shall  make  you  free" — he  uttered  a 
prophecy  the  fulfillment  of  which  you  are  realizing 
in  this  country,  where  the  racial  distinctions  of 
which  your  people  have  been  victims  elsewhere  are 
unknown.  At  the  same  time  republican  institutions 
are  receiving  a  vindication  which  sooner  or  later 
must  make  them  universal. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

JOHN  BIGELOW. 

The  following  letter,  after  sending  a  copy  of  my 
book,  "The  American  Jew,"  to  Ambassador  James 
Bryce  explains  itself: 

British  Embassy. 

Washington,  May  2,  '07. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

Your  book  duly  reached  me,  and  I  have  kept  your 
letter  on  my  table  meaning  some  day  to  write  and 
thank  you  for  it,  but  my  frequent  absence  from 
Washington  and  constant  pressure  of  work  here 
have  prevented  me.  I  thank  you  cordially  for  it. 
The  subject  is  of  all  the  greater  interest  to  me  be 
cause  I  have  many  good  friends  among  your  co 
religionists  in  England,  and  I  have  often  told  my 
fellow  countrymen  how  much  we  owe  to  the  Jews 
as  British  citizens.  They  have  given  us  some  men 
who  have  done  admirable  work  in  England,  as  law 
yers,  public  men  and  as  philanthropists  like  the 
Montefiores  and  the  Mocattas.  I  shall  therefore  read 
your  book  with  all  the  more  interest. 
Yours  faithfully, 

JAMES  BRYCE. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf. 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  149 

Mark  Twain,  in  an  article  in  Harper's  Magazine, 
made  a  statement  reflecting  on  the  loyalty  of  the 
Jews  during  the  Civil  War.  Coming  as  it  did  from  a 
literary  celebrity,  I  promptly  wrote  to  him,  calling 
his  attention  to  my  book,  "The  American  Jew,"  send 
ing  him  a  copy  thereof,  which  he  acknowledged  as 
follows : 

Saiva  Sweden, 

Sept.  15,  1899. 
Simon  Wolf,  Esq., 

Dear  Sir:  I  wish  to  thank  you  for  the  books  now, 
for  if  they  should  get  lost  on  the  way,  you  might 
think  I  got  them  and  was  derelict  in  the  matter  of 
courtesy.  If  you  asked  the  Harper's  for  my  address, 
they  told  you  it  was  c/o  Chatts  Windus,  111  St.  Mar 
tins  Lane,  London,  and  I  shall  get  the  books,  but  if 
you  sent  them  to  Harper  they  may  possibly  remain 
there. 

I  perceive  that  the  Jews  did  wisely  in  keeping 
quiet  during  the  Dreyfus  agitation.  The  other  course 
would  have  hurt  Dreyfus'  cause,  and  I  see  now  that 
nothing  would  have  helped  it.  Dreyfus  has  now 
won  for  a  second  time,  the  highest  honor  in  the  gift 
of  France.  I  hope  he  knows  how  to  value  that,  but 
he  must  not  accept  a  pardon  anyway.  An  innocent 
man  should  spare  himself  that  smirch,  and  Dreyfus 
would.  I  think  he  is  a  manly  man. 

I  thank  you.  I  wanted  one  complimentary  word 
from  a  competent  source.  With  that  support  I  can 
stand  the  rest. 

Sincerely  yours, 

MARK  TWAIN. 

Ill  St.  Martin's  Lane, 
London,  W.  C.  Nov.  8,  1899. 

Dear  Sir:  In  your  introduction  (page  10)  you  say 
that  the  number  of  enlisted  Jews  was  considerably 
in  excess  of  the,  etc.,  etc. 


150  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

I  take  it  you  mean  that  in  the  two  armies  there 
were  more  Jews  to  their  total  population  of  150,000 
than  there  were  of  all  the  other  peoples  to  the  North 
and  South's  total  population  (which  seems  to  have 
been  about  31,000,000  though  I  do  not  find  that  you 
mention  the  aggregate).  I  have  written  that  very 
awkwardly  and  stupidly,  but  you  will  understand. 
Jews,  8,227.  Population,  150,000 

The  Jews  seem  to  have  sent  something  more  than 
five  per  cent  of  their  population  to  the  war.  Did  the 
rest  of  the  country  send  five  per  cent  of  its  popula 
tion,  or  was  it  more?  That  is  what  I  am  trying  to 
get  at. 

In  the  Spring  I  shall  be  publishing  a  volume  of 
short  things  and  am  meditating  a  postscript  show 
ing  the  value  of  your  publications. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  L.  CLEMENS. 

At  the  annual  Schuetzenfest,  President  Cleveland 
having  just  been  married,  visited  the  Park  with  his 
bride  and  invited  me  into  the  carriage  to  make  a 
circuit  of  the  Park.  It  was  a  memorable  scene  and 
one  that  is  often  spoken  of  by  those  still  living. 

The  President  had  a  high  estimate — and  deserv 
edly  so — of  the  three  Straus  brothers.  He  told  me, 
with  a  great  deal  of  feeling,  that  among  the  host  of 
loyal,  intellectual  friends  there  were  none  surpassing 
these  three  brothers,  Nathan,  Isadore  and  Oscar. 
Oscar  was  sent  as  Minister  to  Turkey,  an  office  which 
he  filled  then  and  afterwards  with  wonderful  ability. 
Isadore  he  would  have  made  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  had  it  not  been  politically  necessary  to  appoint 
Daniel  Manning,  and  when  Manning  retired,  he  did 
offer  Mr.  Straus  the  position  of  Postmaster-General. 
Nathan  Straus  he  designated  as  the  war  horse  of  true 
American  democracy  and  philanthropy — thus  evi- 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  151 

dencing  his  desire  to  recognize  merit,  independent 
of  creed  or  nationality,  which  is  the  only  course  for 
an  American  to  pursue. 

The  President  also  had  a  high  regard  for  Hon. 
Simon  W.  Rosendale,  of  Albany.  At  one  time  in 
conversation  with  the  President,  he  spoke  regret- 
tingly  that  he  was  not  in  a  position  to  appoint  Rosen- 
dale  as  Attorney-General. 

President  Cleveland's  dealing  with  the  Chicago 
riots  stamped  him  as  a  man  of  extraordinary  nerve 
and  true  patriotism.  I  remember  Justice  Stephen  I. 
Field  telling  me  at  the  Kaaterskill  Hotel  that  that 
action  alone  made  Cleveland  a  great  figure  in 
American  history. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  last  reception  given  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cleveland.  It  was  an  unusual  gather 
ing,  even  for  the  White  House.  There  was  univer 
sal  regret  from  a  social  standpoint  that  this  genial, 
beautiful  hostess  was  to  leave  the  White  House,  and 
when  I  came  in  line  both  the  President  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland  greeted  me  enthusiastically,  and  I  have 
always  treasured  their  greeting  with  the  keenest 
delight. 

On  the  16th  day  of  February,  1897,  I  was  called  to 
the  White  House  to  discuss  with  the  President  the 
Immigration  Bill  which  was  then  pending  in  Con 
gress,  and  which  President  Cleveland  was  expected 
to  veto.  I  was  with  the  President  an  hour,  and  I 
went  away  perfectly  satisfied  that  at  the  proper  time 
he  would  veto  the  bill,  which  he  did  on  the  3d  day 
of  March,  1897,  the  day  prior  to  leaving  the  White 
House.  It  is  an  important  document  and  has  con 
ferred  upon  the  name  and  memory  of  President 
Cleveland  praise  unstinted  and  formed  the  basis  for 


152  THE  PRESIDENTS  I  HAVE  KNOWN 

vetoes  of  a  similar  character  for  future  Presidents. 
On  the  same  day  I  wrote  to  the  President  a  letter  as 
follows : 

March  3,  1897. 
To  the  President: 

At  high  noon  tomorrow  you  will  again  be  a  pri 
vate  citizen  of  this  great  Republic.  You  are  well 
aware  that  I  am  a  Republican,  but  that  does  not  pre 
vent  me  from  recognizing  the  character  of  the  Amer 
ican  and  the  Executive  who  has,  for  the  last  four 
years  conducted  the  affairs  of  our  government.  I 
know  that  many  things  have  been  charged  to  you  for 
which  you  are  no  more  responsible  than  I  am;  on  the 
contrary,  I  believe  that  matters  would  have  been  a 
great  deal  worse  had  it  not  been  for  your  indomi 
table  energy,  courage  and  convictions  and  superior 
statesmanship.  History  will  unquestionably  give  you 
the  full  meed  of  praise  to  which  you  are  so  pre 
eminently  entitled.  As  an  American  citizen  and  one 
that  has  asked  no  favors,  I  tender  to  you  my  hearty 
and  sincere  congratulations,  wishing  you  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland  health  and  happiness. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

to  which  on  the  4th  of  March,  the  day  of  the  inaugu 
ration  of  Mr.  McKinley,  Mr.  Cleveland  responded  as 
follows : 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

"Your  very  kind  and  courteous  letter  received.  I 
thank  you  for  the  high  estimate  you  have  placed 
upon  my  services  to  the  country.  Whatever  I  did 
was  inspired  by  feelings  of  patriotic  duty.  I  hope 
you  will  continue  to  prosper  in  health  and  happiness. 
"Very  sincerely  yours, 

"GROVER  CLEVELAND." 


GROVER   CLEVELAND  153 

Among  the  first  copies  of  my  biographical  sketch 
of  Mordecai  Manuel  Noah  I  sent  one  to  ex-President 
Cleveland  at  Princeton,  to  which  he  responded  as 
follows : 

"Princeton,  Nov.  3,  1897. 
"My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

"I  have  just  finished  the  reading  of  your  bio 
graphical  sketch  of  M.  M.  Noah,  and  have  derived 
from  its  perusal,  much  pleasure  and  profit.  I  desire 
to  thank  you  for  your  kind  thoughtfulness  in  send 
ing  it  to  me. 

"Yours  sincerely, 

"GROVER  CLEVELAND." 

When  my  daughter,  Mrs.  Frederick  Gotthold,  was 
preparing  my  Seventieth  Anniversary  Year  Book, 
she  sent  a  page  to  Mr.  Cleveland,  on  which  he  wrote 
the  following: 

"There  are  compensations  in  advancing  years,  and 
the  best  of  these  is  the  retrospection  of  work  well 
done." 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 
October  17,  1903. 

All  of  the  letters  that  I  ever  received  from  Presi 
dent  Cleveland  were  written  in  his  own  dainty  hand, 
more  like  a  woman's  handwriting  than  a  man's. 

In  closing  this  sketch,  I  would  be  untrue  to  history 
were  I  not  to  add  my  feelings  of  high  regard,  esteem 
and  good  will  for  Mr.  Cleveland,  as  an  American,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  great  Presidents  of  our  Republic. 
Partisan  feelings  are  only  transient  and  momentary, 
but  patriotism  and  those  sterling  qualities  which  Mr. 
Cleveland  possessed,  are  eternal.  He  has  left  us  a 
lesson  for  manliness  and  courage  and  intellectual 
conservatism,  which  should  at  all  times  be  an  in 
spiration  and  an  example. 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON 

When  Benjamin  Harrison  was  running  for  Gover 
nor  of  Indiana,  his  opponent  was  the  celebrated 
"Blue  Jean  Williams,"  and  the  latter  was  elected. 
It  was  during  that  campaign  that  I  first  became  ac 
quainted  with  Benjamin  Harrison.  I  called  on  him 
at  his  home  in  Indianapolis.  He  was  aware  that  I 
was  making  speeches  in  Indiana,  on  and  in  his  be 
half,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Presidential  ticket,  and 
he  was  quite  cordial,  expressed  a  very  high  opinion 
of  what  is  now  known  as  the  hyphen,  and  also 
seemed  to  evidence  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  and 
good  feeling  for  American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith. 
One  evening  at  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  Governor  Oliver 
P.  Morton  of  that  State  and  I  were  to  speak,  when 
suddenly  from  an  unknown  quarter  of  the  hall  there 
came  sizzling  some  very  unsatisfactory  eggs.  One 
of  these  delightful  missiles  hit  the  Governor  square 
in  the  face.  I  fortunately  escaped  everything  except 
the  copperhead  aroma.  The  modern  stump  speakers 
are  fortunately  not  subjected  to  such  un-American 
treatment,  but  in  those  days  it  was  part  of  the  game, 
especially  in  intensely  Democratic  centers. 

During  the  closing  days  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  first 
administration,  it  became  evident  that  some  Repub 
lican  could  be  elected,  owing  to  the  unpopularity  of 
Mr.  Cleveland  with  his  own  party,  as  well  as  the 
tariff  legislation  enacted  by  the  Democratic  Con 
gress.  While  Blaine  was  still  a  popular  idol,  as 
Henry  Clay  in  his  time  had  been,  yet  the  sober  sec 
ond  thought  of  the  Republican  leaders  led  to  the 
conclusion  that  his  nomination  was  an  impossibility, 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON 
1889-1893 


BENJAMIN   HARRISON  155 

and  so  finally  Benjamin  Harrison  was  nominated 
and  elected. 

I  was  made  a  member  of  the  Inauguration  Com 
mittee  which  was  to  conduct  the  ceremonies  of  Har 
rison  and  Morton,  and  designated  as  Chairman  of 
the  Medal  Committee,  and  I  succeeded  in  having 
made  what  is  known  as  the  Centennial  Medal,  as  it 
was  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

I  received  great  commendation  for  the  originality 
of  the  design,  and  President  Harrison  was  particu 
larly  gracious  to  me  in  consequence  thereof. 

My  intercourse  with  the  new  President  was  not  of 
that  intimate  character  that  had  been  my  good  for 
tune  with  his  predecessors,  yet  it  was  of  a  very  cor 
dial  nature.  He  tendered  me  the  position  of  Consul- 
General  and  Agent  Diplomatique  to  Egypt,  which  I 
respectfully  declined,  as  I  did  not  care  to  hold  any 
further  offices  of  the  Government,  outside  of  char 
itable  and  benevolent  appointments,  and  those  with 
out  compensation. 

The  President  sent  for  me  one  day  and  said  he 
desired  to  appoint  a  representative  American  citizen 
of  Jewish  faith  to  Turkey,  Mr.  Oscar  Straus  having 
done  such  splendid  service  under  Cleveland's  admin 
istration.  I  suggested  Solomon  Hirsh  of  Portland, 
Ore.,  who  was  subsequently  appointed,  and  like  his 
predecessor,  did  admirable  work,  highly  satisfactory, 
not  only  to  the  country  to  which  he  was  accredited, 
but  to  the  country  which  sent  him.  It's  a  curious 
fact  that  Turkey  has  been  looked  upon  as  a  proper 
place  to  send  as  representatives  of  the  United  States, 
American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith.  It  is  known  in 
well  informed  circles  that  Turkey  did  take  a  liberal 


156  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

view  of  Jews  as  men  and  as  citizens,  and  our  Minis 
ters  and  Ambassadors  of  Jewish  faith  have  really 
done  splendid  work. 

It  was  in  part  due  to  my  constant  attention  and 
influence  with  leading  members  of  both  parties  that 
a  resolution  was  adopted  in  Congress  calling  upon 
our  Government  to  take  active  measures  in  regard  to 
our  co-religionists  in  Russia,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
following  letter  written  by  the  President  to  the  House 
of  Representatives: 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington, 

October  1,  1890. 

I  transmit  herewith,  in  answer  to  the  resolution  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  August  20,  1890,  con 
cerning  the  enforcement  of  prescriptive  edicts  against 
the  Jews  in  Russia,  a  report  from  the  Secretary  of 
State  upon  the  subject. 

(Signed)  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

And  after  said  resolution  had  been  adopted,  I  had 
a  long  interview  with  President  Harrison  on  the  sub 
ject,  which  eventually  led  to  the  following  message 
to  Congress  under  date  of  December  9,  1891 : 

This  Government  has  found  occasion  to  express  in 
a  friendly  spirit,  but  with  much  earnestness,  to  the 
Government  of  the  Czar  its  serious  concern  because 
of  the  harsh  measures  now  being  enforced  against 
the  Hebrews  in  Russia.  By  the  revival  of  anti- 
Semitic  laws,  long  in  abeyance,  great  numbers  of 
those  unfortunate  people  have  been  constrained  to 
abandon  their  homes  and  leave  the  Empire  by  rea 
son  of  the  impossibility  of  finding  subsistence  within 
the  pale  to  which  it  is  sought  to  confine  them.  The 
immigration  of  these  people  to  the  United  States — 
many  other  countries  being  closed  to  them — is  largely 
increasing  and  is  likely  to  assume  proportions  which 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON  157 

may  make  it  difficult  to  find  homes  and  employment 
for  them  here  and  to  seriously  affect  the  labor  mar 
ket.  It  is  estimated  that  over  1,000,000  will  be  forced 
from  Russia  within  a  few  years.  The  Hebrew  is 
never  a  beggar;  he  has  always  kept  the  law — lives  by 
toil — often  under  severe  and  oppressive  civil  restric 
tions.  It  is  also  true  that  no  race,  sect  or  class  has 
more  fully  cared  for  its  own  than  the  Hebrew  race. 
But  the  sudden  transfer  of  such  a  multitude  under 
conditions  that  tend  to  strip  them  of  their  small  ac 
cumulations  and  to  depress  their  energies  and  cour 
age  is  neither  good  for  them  nor  for  us. 

The  banishment,  whether  by  direct  decree  or  by 
not  less  certain  indirect  methods,  of  so  large  a  num 
ber  of  men  and  women  is  not  a  local  question.  A 
decree  to  leave  one  country  is  in  the  nature  of  things 
an  order  to  enter  another — some  other.  This  con 
sideration,  as  well  as  the  suggestion  of  humanity,  fur 
nishes  ample  ground  for  the  remonstrances  which 
we  have  presented  to  Russia,  while  our  historic 
friendship  for  that  Government  can  not  fail  to  give 
the  assurance  that  our  representations  are  those  of 
a  sincere  well-wisher. 

Among  other  items  of  information  submitted  by 
Secretary  Elaine  in  his  report,  was  the  mention  of 
Hermann  Kempinski,  an  American  citizen,  who  had 
been  imprisoned  on  his  return  to  the  place  of  his 
birth  (Russia),  which  fact  was  brought  to  my  atten 
tion  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Klein  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  repre 
senting  Abraham  Lodge,  No.  89,  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  of  which  lodge  Kempinski  was 
a  member.  Considerable  correspondence  pro  and 
con  ensued,  in  consequence  of  his  incarceration,  but 
I  finally  succeeded  in  having  him  released.  Twenty- 
seven  years  after,  on  my  eightieth  birthday,  among 
numerous  letters  congratulating  me  was  one  from 
this  man  Kempinski,  who  is  now  living  at  Bridge- 


158  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

port,  Conn.,  and  who  on  Sunday,  the  llth  of  Feb 
ruary,  1917,  when  I  was  guest  of  honor  at  Abraham 
Lodge  at  their  golden  anniversary,  publicly  an 
nounced  to  the  lodge,  with  streaming  eyes,  that  I  had 
saved  his  life  and  that  of  his  family  by  my  prompt 
conduct,  and  thanked  me  in  most  enthusiastic  terms. 
It  was  a  dramatic  scene. 

The  President  took  an  active  interest  in  the  matter 
of  discriminations  against  our  co-religionists  in  dif 
ferent  parts  of  the  world,  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
foregoing  message  to  Congress. 

Naturally,  in  consequence  of  this  discrimination 
and  persecution  on  the  part  of  certain  governments 
of  Europe,  immigration  became  a  very  important 
question  in  and  out  of  Congress,  and  while  at  the 
White  House  one  day,  I  mentioned  the  subject  to  the 
President,  outlining  to  him  my  views,  and  he  very 
promptly,  and  with  great  feeling,  considering  it  was 
Benjamin  Harrison,  said  that  I  should  put  my  ideas 
in  writing  and  address  them  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  the  Hon.  Charles  Foster,  under  whom 
came  the  Bureau  of  Immigration,  which  I  did.  At 
the  time  of  writing  this  letter  to  Secretary  Foster, 
Mr.  Lewis  Abraham,  now  deceased,  was  Secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Delegates,  and  kept  the  files,  which 
have  unfortunately  been  either  lost,  destroyed  or 
mislaid,  and  I  can  only  give  a  summary  as  printed 
at  the  time  in  some  of  the  New  York  papers,  which 
my  friend,  Mr.  Max  J.  Kohler,  the  publicist,  has  gra 
ciously  furnished  me,  and  which  reads  as  follows: 

Simon  Wolf  and  Lewis  Abraham  of  this  city,  on 
behalf  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congrega 
tions,  have  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  a  communication  on  the  subject  of  the  immigra- 


BENJAMIN   HARRISON  159 

lion  of  Russian  Hebrews  to  the  United  States.  In 
their  address  the  writers,  while  deploring  the  arrival 
in  this  country  of  so  many  of  their  exiled  people, 
maintain  that  the  statutes  of  the  United  States  should 
not  be  so  interpreted  as  to  class  them  as  paupers  or 
assisted  emigrants,  "When  hands  of  help  and  wel 
come  are  outstretched  to  elevate  them  to  the  exalted 
position  of  American  citizenship  without  demanding 
any  contributions  from  national  or  local  taxes." 

"That  the  refugees  are  generally  in  distress,"  say 
the  writers,  "is  not  denied.  Circumstances  have 
placed  them  in  a  situation  that  is  recognized  through 
the  civilized  world  as  resulting  from  the  greatest 
crime  of  the  so-called  enlightened  century,  and  this 
distress  their  brethren  are  untiringly  striving  to  alle 
viate.  To  close  the  avenues  of  this  free  and  liberty- 
loving  country  that  has  opened  its  gates  to  the  down 
trodden  and  unjustly  persecuted,  would  be  against 
the  underlying  genius  and  theory  of  our  glorious  and 
beloved  Constitution.  Neither  the  letter  nor  the 
spirit  of  the  laws  of  our  country  requires  us  to  close 
the  gate  of  mercy  on  mankind." 

The  writers  refer  to  the  large  influx  of  Russian 
Hebrews  into  this  country  about  ten  years  ago  and 
state  that  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained  not  a  single 
one  of  them  has  become  a  public  burden.  Arguing 
from  this  and  the  further  fact  that  a  large  number  of 
organizations  have  been  formed  throughout  the 
country  having  for  their  object  the  general  care  and 
elevation  of  the  exiles,  the  writers  maintain  that  even 
if  they  have  their  "passage  paid  with  the  money  of 
another,"  they  can  not  be  classed  as  paupers,  but 
rather  come  under  the  exceptional  clause  of  the  law, 
viz.,  "Where  it  is  satisfactorily  shown  that  such  per 
sons  do  not  belong  to  the  foregoing  excluded  classes." 

To  which  Secretary  Foster  answered  as  follows : 


160  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Treasury  Department, 

Office  of  the  Secretary, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  Aug.  1,  1891. 
Simon  Wolf,  Chairman, 

Board  of  Delegates  of  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your 
communication  of  the  27th  ultimo  with  its  enclosures 
as  stated. 

You  call  my  attention  to  the  bitter  hardships  suf 
fered  by  many  thousands  of  Hebrews  by  reason  of 
their  forcible  expulsion  from  their  homes  in  the  Rus 
sian  Empire,  and  you  state  among  other  things  that 
there  is  no  organization  in  the  United  States  which 
assists  or  encourages  destitute  Hebrew  refugees  to 
come  to  this  country;  that  you  deplore  this  form  of 
immigration;  that  the  efforts  of  the  several  Hebrew 
societies  represented  by  you  are  confined  to  amelio 
rating  the  conditions  of  those  unhappy  people  after 
their  arrival  at  American  ports  by  relieving  those 
in  distress  and  aiding  all  to  avoid  massing  the  sea 
board  cities  and  to  distribute  themselves  to  widely 
separated  localities  where  they  may  as  soon  as  possi 
ble  become  self-sustaining.  You  state  that  you  have 
no  complaint  to  make  in  connection  with  the  official 
treatment  of  refugees  who  have  already  arrived,  and 
that  you  do  not  apprehend  any  future  cause  for  com 
plaint  in  this  regard;  but  you  urge  the  consideration 
that  practically  enforced  immigration  of  this  which 
can  not  properly  be  classed  as  "assisted"  immigra 
tion  within  the  meaning  of  our  laws,  and  finally  you 
declare  the  readiness  of  the  people  and  associations 
for  whom  you  speak  to  give  to  the  Government  in 
all  cases  a  satisfactory  bond  guaranteeing  that  none 
of  these  refugee  immigrants  shall  become  a  public 
charge. 

Be  assured,  sir,  that  I  fully  concur  in  your  estimate 
of  the  magnitude  of  the  present  calamity  which  has 
befallen  so  many  of  your  race,  as  well  as  in  your 
hope  that  an  early  mitigation  or  cessation  of  the  cur- 


BENJAMIN   HARRISON  161 

rent  measures  of  expulsion  may  render  unnecessary 
any  general  migration  of  Russian  Hebrews  to  Amer 
ica  or  elsewhere.  Unquestionably  a  great  and  sud 
den  influx  of  expatriated  and  destitute  aliens  of  any 
race  would  be  a  grave  misfortune  to  any  country, 
and  American  Hebrews  act  both  patriotically  and 
humanely  when  they  advise  Jewish  refugees  against 
coming  hither,  but  at  the  same  time  endeavor  to 
render  self-supporting  those  who  finally  come.  Ob 
viously  the  support  of  great  numbers  of  dependent 
persons  is  a  tax  upon  the  resources  of  the  country, 
even  though  paid  from  private  funds,  and,  quite  as 
plainly,  industrial  conditions  here  might  be  seriously 
disturbed  by  the  sudden  arrival  and  the  enforced 
competition  of  a  multitude  of  needy  people. 

Hence  it  is  important  to  the  last  degree  that  the 
Volume  of  this  expected  refugee  immigration  be  not 
excessive  or  threatening  and  that  with  entire  cer 
tainty  it  be  promptly  and  widely  distributed  so  as  to 
supply  a  real  want  in  scattered  communities  and  in 
terfere  as  little  as  possible  with  existing  and  normal 
industrial  conditions.  The  apparent  scope  and  thor 
oughness  of  your  plans  for  securing  this  immediate 
and  wide  distribution  of  the  expected  refugees  are 
more  gratifying,  and  upon  the  success  of  your  asso 
ciations  in  carrying  out  these  plans  will  largely  de 
pend  the  possibility  of  the  Government  meeting  your 
views  in  other  respects. 

While  the  immigration  laws  of  the  United  States 
must  and  will  be  enforced,  I  agree  with  you  that 
those  laws  were  never  enacted  in  derogation  of  the 
plainest  requirements  of  humanity,  and  no  worthy 
immigrant  who  in  all  other  respects  meets  the  de 
mands  of  our  statutes  should  be  excluded  from  the 
country  because,  through  the  action  of  others,  he  is 
for  the  time  being  homeless  and  without  property. 

I  shall  rely  upon  your  voluntary  assurance  that 
you  will  actively  urge  upon  your  brethren  in  Europe 
the  attitude  of  our  laws  toward  assisted  immigra 
tion.  I  also  beg  to  remind  you  that  any  tendency 


162  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

abroad  to  deflect  toward  this  country  the  movement 
of  destitute  refugees  or  to  stimulate  their  migration 
hither,  would  be  distinctly  hostile  to  the  spirit  mani 
fested  in  your  letter  and  to  the  spirit  in  which  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  desires  to  treat  this 
difficult  and  delicate  problem. 

Thanking  you  for  your  expressions  of  confidence 
that  this  department,  while  executing  the  immigra 
tion  laws  efficiently  will  also  execute  them  humanely, 
I  am, 

Respectfully  yours, 

CHARLES  FOSTER, 
Secretary. 

The  following  letter  of  Senator  John  Sherman  is 
interesting.  My  note  was  to  the  effect  that  the  treaty 
which  had  just  been  completed  was  very  objection 
able: 

Senate  Chamber,  Washington,  Feb.  25, 1893. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

My  Dear  Sir:  Your  note  of  the  24th  is  received. 
The  Russian  treaty  is  beyond  our  control  as  it  is  rati 
fied  and  in  the  hands  of  the  President.  The  clause 
inserted  in  the  treaty  is  similar  to  that  in  the  Belgian 
treaty  and  the  Committee  were  unanimously  of  the 
opinion  that  it  was  not  objectionable. 

I  return  you  the  letters  enclosed. 
Very  truly  yours, 

JOHN  SHERMAN. 

( 

I  called  on  the  President  one  day  in  regard  to  the 
appointment  of  a  young  American  of  Jewish  faith 
to  West  Point,  and  who  had  been  highly  recom 
mended  to  me  by  many  friends.  The  President 
promptly  said  he  would  take  the  matter  into  consid 
eration  and  subsequently  did  appoint  him,  but  un 
fortunately  he  did  not  pass  the  examination,  or  at 
least  it  was  so  reported  by  the  Examining  Board. 


BENJAMIN   HARRISON  163 

It  may  have  been  a  good  stroke  of  fortune  for  the 
young  gentleman,  as  he  has  since  risen  in  his  pro 
fession  to  eminence  and  wealth. 

The  death  of  General  Franz  Sigel  impelled  me  to 
write  the  following  tribute.  As  he  was  a  great  figure 
in  the  Civil  War  and  afterward,  and  is  mentioned  in 
these  sketches,  as  he  showed  his  sincere  patriotism 
at  a  time  when  his  heart  was  stricken  by  sorrow, 
caused  by  the  action  of  his  favorite  son,  it  deserves, 
in  my  judgment,  perpetuation  as  an  incentive  to 
others : 

"The  death  of  Gen.  Franz  Sigel  brings  on  the  can 
vas  of  memory  pictures  glowing  with  life  and  color. 
Born  not  far  distant  from  the  town  which  gave  birth 
to  the  illustrious  hero  of  two  countries,  I  naturally 
feel  an  affinity  and  remember  well  how  enthusias 
tically  my  sainted  father  spoke  of  Gen.  Sigel,  for  he, 
too,  was  one  of  that  tried  band  of  Germans  that 
loved  liberty  more  than  life.  I  made  the  acquain 
tance  of  Gen.  Sigel  forty  years  ago,  just  prior  to  the 
second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  from  that  day  to  this 
entertained  for  him  the  highest  regard  as  a  man,  as 
a  soldier,  patriot  and  citizen.  As  a  student  of  Amer 
ican  history  I  have  become  thoroughly  convinced  of 
the  fact  that  General  Sigel  contributed  largely  to  the 
preservation  of  the  Union.  It  was  at  the  inception 
of  the  Civil  War,  when  every  moment  was  impor 
tant,  when  every  act  was  making  history,  that  Gen. 
Sigel's  conduct  and  patriotism  came  to  the  fore.  St. 
Louis,  Camp  Jackson,  Missouri,  were  saved  by  his 
indomitable  energy,  experience  in  warfare,  high- 
souled,  broad  and  liberal  principles,  for  the  Union. 
The  saving  of  Missouri  preserved  Kentucky  and  Ten 
nessee  and  prevented  an  invasion  of  Ohio,  and  the 
nation  can  never  be  too  generous  in  its  recognition 
of  what  Gen.  Sigel  did  then  and  there.  Aside  from 
this,  his  name  was  one  to  conjure  with.  To  'fight 


164  THE    PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE    KNOWN 

mit  Sigel'  became  a  rallying  cry,  not  only  among 
those  of  his  own  countrymen,  but  among  all  lovers 
of  liberty.  His  retreats  from  superior  numbers  were 
masterly,  and  instead  of  discouraging  became  in 
spirations. 

"He  was  a  soldier  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term, 
uncomplaining,  unpretending,  always  ready  to  dis 
charge  the  duties  imposed  upon  him  by  circum 
stances  or  conditions,  and  when  the  war  closed  his 
first  ambition  was  not  to  secure  official  recognition, 
but  to  work  for  those  whom  he  most  loved  and  cher 
ished.  It  was  at  my  suggestion  that  Gen.  Grant 
offered  him  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility 
which  were  on  three  different  occasions  declined, 
but  finally  he  did  accept  the  assessorship,  collector- 
ship  of  internal  revenue  in  the  City  of  New  York. 
He  was  tendered,  at  my  request,  the  position  of  sec 
retary  of  the  commission  to  go  to  San  Domingo,  and 
declined,  but  finally  did  go  as  the  representative  of 
the  President. 

"The  several  positions  the  General  filled  in  civil 
life  were  discharged  with  singular  ability,  faithful 
ness  and  with  that  self-same  vigilance  as  had  char 
acterized  him  during  the  Civil  War. 

"To  understand  the  perfect  Spartan  character  of 
the  General  it  need  but  be  mentioned  when  he  was 
pension  agent  of  the  City  of  New  York  he  gave 
up  his  son  to  the  courts  of  justice,  declining  any 
favors  in  consequence  of  his  standing  or  record, 
claiming  that  having  helped  to  save  the  Union  he 
must  lay  no  claim  for  immunity.  President  Harri 
son,  to  whose  attention  I  called  the  condition  of 
affairs,  promptly  pardoned  his  son. 

"Gen.  Sigel,  apart  from  his  military  ability,  was  a 
student  and  scholar.  He  wrote  and  thought  with 
great  facility,  and  his  history  of  the  revolutionary 
struggle  in  Germany  is  replete  with  facts  and  data 
for  the  future  historians.  His  companions  in  the 
armies  were  his  devoted  friends.  The  humblest  of 
his  soldiers  received  as  much  attention,  nay,  more, 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON  165 

than  those  of  higher  rank.  The  acquisition  of  money 
played  no  part,  and  thus  in  the  last  years  of  his  life 
he  had  to  struggle  for  existence  on  the  insignificant 
pension  of  $100  per  month  given  by  the  Government 
he  helped  to  save.  It  was  a  small  pittance,  and  yet 
aided  him  materially.  Now  that  he  has  joined  the 
Great  Army  of  the  Republic — now  that  he  is  stand 
ing  side  by  side  with  Lincoln,  Grant,  Sherman, 
Thomas,  Lee,  Jackson  and  others,  it  behooves  us 
who  are  reaping  the  benefits  of  his  work  and  sacri 
fices  to  see  that  those  he  has  left  should  become  our 
wards,  to  see  that  his  widow  receives  not  only  the 
pension  that  he  did,  but  that  it  should  be  doubled,  so 
that  her  declining  years  shall  be  made  happy  and 
contented;  and  I  am  sure  that  I  am  voicing  the  senti 
ments  of  every  lover  of  his  country  and  of  every 
soldier  wlio  fought  in  the  blue  or  in  the  gray  when  I 
say  let  Congress  in  its  coming  session  vote  a  liberal 
pension  to  the  widow  of  the  hero  of  two  countries — 
an  American  who  fearlessly  did  his  duty,  and  whose 
memory  will  ever  be  cherished  by  his  grateful  coun 
trymen." 

President  Harrison,  a  man  of  wonderful  legal 
ability,  of  high  intellectual  qualities,  was  more  un 
popular  than  any  President  that  I  had  become  ac 
quainted  with.  There  was  lacking  in  him  magnet 
ism  and  social  warmth.  When  you  stood  in  his 
presence,  as  a  great  American  politician  so  aptly  de 
scribed  it,  you  felt  like  having  inflicted  upon  you 
"political  pneumonia."  Then  also,  unfortunately,  as 
under  other  administrations,  Mr.  Elaine  and  the 
President  were  not  on  the  most  cordial  terms,  either 
personally  or  politically.  So  when  the  National  Con 
vention  of  1892,  which  took  place  at  Minneapolis, 
renominated  Mr.  Harrison,  with  Whitelaw  Reid  of 
New  York  as  his  running  mate,  he  was  defeated  by 
Mr.  Cleveland.  In  my  sketch  of  William  McKinley 


166  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

I  will  in  the  proper  place  bring  in  the  incident  in 
connection  with  that  convention,  over  which  McKin- 
ley  presided. 

And  thus  there  passed  out  of  political  history  one 
of  the  great  Americans  about  which  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  He  came  from  loyal,  patriotic  stock,  was  a 
Senator  of  pre-eminent  force  and  ability,  was  hailed 
by  members  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  bar  of  the 
United  States  as  one  of  the  great  legal  lights,  if  not 
the  greatest;  but  as  already  mentioned,  he  lacked 
certain  essential  qualities,  without  which  no  candi 
date  can  succeed  in  winning  the  suffrage  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  many  examples  of  which  we  have  in  our 
political  history.  That  he  was  a  gentleman  and  a 
patriot  and  in  every  sense  worthy  of  the  office  he 
filled,  there  can  be  no  question. 


WILLIAM  McKiNLKY 
1897-1901 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY 

Long  before  William  McKinley  became  a  national 
and  international  figure,  I  had  made  his  acquain 
tance  and  won  his  friendship  and  good-will,  which 
ended  only  when  he  passed  to  eternal  rest.  We 
often  met  at  his  home  in  Canton,  Ohio,  and  at  the 
house  of  a  mutual  friend,  M.  Ruhman,  the  son-in-law 
of  Rabbi  Levinsky,  the  author  of  the  Family  and 
School  Bible. 

When  he  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress  this 
intimacy  continued,  and  many  social  and  pleasant 
hours  were  passed  in  my  home  and  in  his  rooms  at 
the  Ebbitt  House,  where  he  lived  during  his  whole 
Congressional  career.  He  was  at  all  times  genial, 
and  no  matter  what  he  had  to  do,  either  for  his  con 
stituents  or  for  his  friends,  he  was  ever  the  same 
patient,  courteous,  and  self-sacrificing  gentleman. 
In  due  course  of  time  he  was  elected  Governor  of 
Ohio.  I  telegraphed  him,  "Thane  of  Cawdor,  King 
that  will  be,"  to  which  he  promptly  replied,  "Thanks, 
not  yet." 

The  sentiment  of  the  country  crystallized  into  a 
feeling  that  McKinley  was  Presidential  timber.  At 
the  Republican  National  Convention  held  in  Minne 
apolis,  where  he  presided,  he  could  have  been  nomi 
nated,  but  declined,  and  when  I  told  him,  walking 
from  the  hall  to  the  hotel,  that  he  ought  to  have  ac 
cepted,  he  said  with  a  smile,  "My  dear  Simon,  I  re 
peat  my  message  to  you, — not  yet." 

His  fame  as  a  statesman  for  constructive  work  of 
a  national  character,  especially  on  the  subject  of 
tariff,  grew.  His  wonderful  liberality  in  dealing 
with  all  shades  of  public  thought  made  him  popular 


168  THE    PRESIDENTS    I    HAVE    KNOWN 

with  the  masses,  and  he  won  the  esteem  and  good 
will  of  his  own  party,  as  well  as  that  of  the  opposi 
tion,  and  in  due  time,  he  was  elected  and  re-elected. 
During  the  first  campaign  when  I  met  him  I  told  him 
he  would  be  overwhelmingly  elected,  and  that  I 
would  be  among  the  first  to  greet  him.  So  when  I 
was  appointed  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Medals 
of  the  Inaugural  Committee,  I  had  the  honor  and 
pleasure  of  pinning  the  gold  medal  on  his  coat  at  the 
head  of  the  stairs  of  the  Reviewing  Stand.  It  was  a 
proud  moment  when  President  McKinley  said  to  me, 
"Well,  Simon,  there  is  still  a  God  in  Israel."  I  knew 
what  he  meant  to  convey,  for  we  had  often  discussed 
the  golden  opportunities  of  this  great  Republic,  and 
he  was  a  living  exemplification,  not  only  of  the  the 
ory  but  of  the  practice. 

As  with  his  predecessors,  the  White  House  was 
open  to  me  at  all  hours.  The  President  insisted  on 
my  treating  him  as  an  old  friend.  The  gentle  and 
loving  Mrs.  McKinley  kept  up  her  warm  friendship. 
Station  and  adulation  had  not  warped  her  judgment 
or  undermined  her  good  sense.  In  every  way  she 
was  worthy  of  being  the  first  lady  of  the  land.  In 
his  affectionate  and  constant  devotion  to  his  invalid 
wife,  President  McKinley  exemplified  the  highest 
traits  of  chivalrous  manhood,  his  patience  and  cheer 
fulness  were  symbolic  of  the  highest  virtues,  and 
earned  him  the  universal  esteem  of  his  fellow-citi 
zens. 

The  President  several  times  asked  me  what  he 
could  do  for  me,  but  I  steadily  declined.  The  posi 
tion  of  postmastership  of  Washington  and  one  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  District  were  tendered  to  me 
by  him,  but  I  preferred  private  life.  One  day  the 


WILLIAM    MCKINLEY  169 

President  told  me  he  would  appoint  Oscar  S.  Straus 
of  New  York  as  Minister  to  Turkey.  I  promptly  con 
gratulated  him  in  making  this  choice,  as  Mr.  Straus 
had  given  great  evidence  of  his  ability,  patriotism, 
and  thorough  Americanism,  which  I  am  happy  to 
state  he  has  continued  to  do  in  many  other  fields  of 
public  usefulness. 

On  another  occasion  he  told  me  that  he  was  wor 
ried  because  John  W.  Ross,  whom  he  had  re- 
appointed  Commissioner  of  the  District,  was  opposed 
for  confirmation  by  Senator  Bacon  of  Georgia.  Ross 
was  a  high-toned  official,  in  every  way  efficient  and 
universally  liked.  He  was  a  gold  Democrat,  and 
had  approved  Mr.  McKinley's  election.  Senator  Ba 
con  was  a  Bryan  man  and  called  Ross  a  traitor, 
having  been  originally  appointed  by  President  Cleve 
land.  I  told  the  President  I  thought  I  could  over 
come  the  opposition  if  he  would  give  me  "carte 
blanche,"  to  which  he  replied,  "Ordinarily  I  would 
not,  but  I  have  confidence  in  your  judgment.  Go 
ahead  and  see  what  you  can  do."  In  Ma  con,  Georgia, 
a  friend  of  mine,  Jacob  H.  Hertz,  a  Democrat  whose 
commission  as  Postmaster  had  expired,  wished  to 
be  re-appointed.  He  was  a  dear  friend  of  Senator 
Bacon.  I  had  a  very  pleasant  interview  with  the 
Senator.  The  outcome  was  that  Ross  was  confirmed. 
Hertz  was  re-appointed.  The  President  was  most 
profound  in  his  thanks  for  this  trifling  service,  al 
though  he  regarded  it  from  a  different  standpoint. 
This  only  confirms  the  old  theory  that  there  is  more 
practice  in  politics  than  principle. 

To  evidence  the  wonderful  memory  and  friendship 
of  President  McKinley,  one  day  he  said  to  me,  "What 
has  become  of  E?"  I  said,  "He  is  where  he  was 


170  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

when  you  were  a  member  of  Congress,  and  when 
you  recommended  him  to  Secretary  Windom  for 
promotion.  Under  the  administration  of  President 
Cleveland  he  was  demoted  for  the  good  of  the  serv 
ice."  I  then  told  him,  "I  have  a  copy  of  your  letter 
which  you  sent  to  the  Treasury  Department  with 
me."  Said  he,  "Let  me  have  it,"  and  on  it  he  wrote, 
"Why  can't  this  man  be  promoted?"  and  sent  it  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  He  was  promoted, 
and  for  sixteen  years  filled  the  position  with  signal 
ability  until  the  present  administration  came  in, 
when  he  again  was  demoted,  and,  as  usual,  for  the 
good  of  the  service.  What  better  proof  need  be  had 
of  the  value  of  the  Civil  Service? 

After  the  first  election  of  Mr.  McKinley  I  wrote  him 
a  congratulatory  letter,  in  the  name  of  the  National 
Union  Republican  Club  of  the  City  of  Washington, 
to  which  he  replied: 

November  23,  1896. 
Mr.  S.  Wolf,  Prest., 
National  Union  Republican  Club, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  beg  that  you  accept  on  your  own 
behalf  and  convey  to  the  members  of  the  National 
Union  Republican  Club,  my  sincere  thanks  for  your 
congratulations  and  expression  of  good  wishes. 

Yours  very  truly, 

WILLIAM  MCKINLEY. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Washington  Hebrew  Con 
gregation  was  to  be  laid  on  the  16th  day  of  Septem 
ber,  1897,  and  I  asked  the  President  to  honor  us  with 
his  presence,  which  he  did,  as  is  more  fully  described 
in  my  address  at  the  memorial  services  of  the  mar 
tyred  President.  A  brass  plate  has  been  put  on  the 


WILLIAM    MCKINLEY  171 

chair  in  which  President  McKinley  sat  during  the 
exercises,  and  which  chair  is  now  treasured  by  the 
Congregation  as  a  relic. 

Later,  when  the  Temple  was  completed,  owing  to 
public  duties,  the  President  could  not  be  with  us  but 
sent  a  letter  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy: 

Executive  Mansion, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  Sept.  8, 1898. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

The  very  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  dedicatory 
exercises  at  the  Eighth  Street  Temple  on  Friday  after 
noon  has  been  received,  and  I  beg  to  express  to  you 
my  deep  regret  that  public  duties  and  engagements 
will  not  admit  of  an  acceptance. 

I  well  remember  the  interesting  ceremonies  inci 
dent  to  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Temple, 
in  which  I  had  the  pleasure  of  participating.  Patri 
otic  and  loyal  in  war  and  in  peace,  its  Congregation 
will,  I  am  sure,  continue  to  exercise  great  influence 
for  good  in  this  community. 

Assuring  you  of  my  appreciation  of  your  courtesy, 
and  with  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  the  exercises, 
believe  me, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

WM.  McKlNLEY. 

Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Chairman, 
926  F  Street,  N.  W., 
Washington,  D.  C. 

The  following  letter  from  Asst.  Secretary  A.  A. 
Adee  was  received: 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  December  11,  1897. 
Simon  Wolf,  Esq., 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

I  have  your  personal  letter  of  yesterday's  date  ask 
ing  whether  the  good  offices  of  the  State  Department 


172  THE   PRESIDENTS  I   HAVE   KNOWN 

could  be  secured  in  getting  the  consent  of  the  Rus 
sian  government  for  the  introduction  into  Russia  of 
the  beneficent  order  of  B'nai  B'rith  (Sons  of  the 
Covenant). 

The  inquiry  is  somewhat  embarrassing  in  that  this 
Department  is  shy  of  using  its  good  offices  even  to 
further  the  commercial  enterprises  of  our  citizens  or 
corporations  who  seek  to  establish  branches  in  for 
eign  countries.  In  such  cases  the  laws  of  the  coun 
try  regulate  their  admission  to  local  privileges  and 
this  Department  can  not  undertake  either  to  stand 
sponsor  for  a  particular  enterprise  or  seek  to  obtain 
for  it  other  than  the  same  usage  which  is  given  to 
all  foreign  corporations  in  the  country. 

It  does  not  appear  from  your  letter  that  the  B'nai 
B'rith  is  an  exclusively  American  organization,  main 
taining  branches  in  other  countries.  I  rather,  un 
derstand  that  its  affiliating  branches  in  Austria,  Ger 
many,  Roumania,  Egypt  and  Jerusalem,  of  which  you 
speak,  are  local  organizations  bearing  to  the  parent 
stock,  wherever  it  may  be,  much  the  same  relation 
that  the  National  Red  Cross  Associations  of  different 
countries  bear  to  the  parent  Committee  in  Switzer 
land.  That  society,  besides  being  established  by  in 
ternational  treaty,  has  local  organizations  in  many 
countries. 

The  rules  of  the  Russian  Empire  in  regard  to  in 
dividual  associations  for  other  than  purely  commer 
cial  purposes  are  understood  to  be  very  rigid.  If 
they  allow  the  organization  of  a  Russian  branch  of 
B'nai  B'rith,  no  assistance  from  us  would  be  re 
quired.  If  they  prohibit  it,  I  do  not  think  that  any 
thing  we  could  say  or  do  would  alter  the  Russian 
rule. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ALVEY  A.  ADEE. 

I  presented  the  President  with  a  copy  of  my  book, 
"The  American  Jew  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and  Citizen," 


WILLIAM   MCKINLEY  173 

and  a  few  weeks  later  he  sent  me  the  following 
letter : 

My  Dear  Friend: 

I  received  the  copy  of  your  memorable  book,  "The 
American  Jew  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and  Citizen,"  and 
I  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  privilege  of  reading  the 
same.  I  consider  it  a  masterly  treatment  of  the  sub 
ject,  and  you  have  rendered  not  only  to  your  people, 
but  to  all  people  a  great  service.  No  better  class  of 
citizens  than  the  Jewish  exists  in  our  country,  many 
of  whom  have  been  and  are  my  personal  friends. 

Again  thanking  you,  I  am,  as  ever, 

Sincerely, 

WM.  MCKINLEY. 

I  give  herewith  the  following  quotation  from  my 
book,  "The  American  Jew  as  Patriot,  Soldier  and 
Citizen,"  pages  427-428: 

In  a  recent  speech  at  Ottawa,  Kansas,  on  June  20, 
1895  (quoted  in  the  Reform  Advocate  of  Chicago, 
July  13,  1895),  Governor  William  McKinley,  of  Ohio, 
referred  to  this  incident  as  follows : 

"What  more  beautiful  conception  than  that  which 
prompted  Abraham  Kohn,  of  Chicago,  in  February, 
1861,  to  send  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  eve  of  his  start 
ing  to  Washington,  to  assume  the  office  of  President, 
a  flag  of  our  country,  bearing  upon  its  silken  folds 
these  words  from  the  first  chapter  of  Joshua:  'Have 
I  not  commanded  thee?  Be  strong  and  of  good  cour 
age.  Be  not  afraid,  neither  be  thou  dismayed,  for 
the  Lord,  thy  God  is  with  thee,  whithersoever  thou 
goest.  There  shall  not  any  man  be  able  to  stand 
before  thee  all  the  days  of  thy  life.  As  I  was  with 
Moses  so  shall  I  be  with  thee.  I  will  not  fail  thee 
nor  forsake  thee.' 

"Could  anything  have  given  Mr.  Lincoln  more 
cheer,  or  been  better  calculated  to  sustain  his  cour 
age  or  to  strengthen  his  faith  in  the  mighty  work 
before  him.  Thus  commanded,  thus  assured,  Mr. 


174  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Lincoln  journeyed  to  the  Capital,  where  he  took  the 
oath  of  office  and  registered  in  heaven  an  oath  to 
save  the  Union.  And  the  Lord,  our  God,  was  with 
him,  until  every  obligation  of  oath  and  duty  was 
sacredly  kept  and  honored.  Not  any  man  was  able 
to  stand  before  him.  Liberty  was  the  more  firmly 
enthroned,  the  Union  was  saved,  and  the  flag  which 
he  carried  floated  in  triumph  and  glory  from  every 
flagstaff  of  the  Republic." 

In  reply  to  a  letter  addressed  to  him  by  the  daugh 
ter  of  Abraham  Kohn,  Mrs.  Dankmar  Adler  (whose 
husband,  the  architect  of  the  Auditorium  Building 
and  one  of  the  architects  of  the  Columbian  Exposi 
tion,  had  fought  through  the  war  and  been  wounded 
at  Chickamauga),  Major  McKinley  wrote:  "The  in 
cident  deeply  impressed  me  when  I  first  learned  of 
it,  and  I  have  taken  occasion  to  use  it,  as  in  my 
speech  at  Ottawa,  to  which  you  refer.  I  am  very 
glad  to  have  been  able  to  give  publicity  to  this  strik 
ing  incident,  and  I  am  sure  that  the  family  of  Mr. 
Kohn  should  feel  very  proud  of  his  patriotic  act." 

I  had  several  lengthy  conversations  with  President 
McKinley  on  the  subject  of  the  Russian  Passport  and 
Treaty.  Because  the  President  was  so  engaged  with 
important  matters,  it  seems  that  he  turned  the  sub 
ject  over  to  Mr.  George  B.  Cortelyou,  who  wrote  me 
this  letter: 

Executive  Mansion, 
Washington,  December  27,  1899. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

If  you  can  find  it  convenient  to  do  so,  I  will  be 
glad  if  you  will  call  at  the  Executive  Mansion  to 
morrow  or  Friday,  between  eleven  and  one  o'clock, 
as  I  would  be  glad  to  talk  with  you  about  a  matter 
concerning  which  you  have  had  some  correspon 
dence  with  the  President. 

Very  truly  yours, 

GEORGE  B.  CORTELYOU, 
Acting  Secretary  to  the  President. 


WILLIAM    MCKINLEY  175 

The  interview  took  place,  and  I  submitted  a 
lengthy  statement  which  the  President  afterwards 
told  me  was  illuminating  and  comprehensive,  and  he 
hoped  before  his  term  expired  to  be  able  to  do  some 
thing  towards  mitigating  the  condition  of  the  Jews 
in  Russia,  and  bring  about  a  revision  of  the  treaty. 

On  Flag  Day,  June  14,  1901,  I  was  one  of  the 
speakers.  Hon.  Henry  B.  F.  Macfarland,  then  Presi 
dent  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  in  introducing 
me,  said  the  following: 

"Those  of  us  who  were  born  under  the  flag,  and 
who  have  loved  it  from  birth,  do  not  excel  in  ap 
preciation  of  it,  or  in  devotion  to  it,  our  fellow- 
citizens  who  came  from  their  native  lands  beyond 
the  sea  to  its  protection  and  its  service.  They  saw, 
as  with  the  eye  of  faith,  its  beauty  and  its  blessings, 
and  they  deliberately  left  their  birthplaces  and  cast 
in  their  lot  with  us.  We  could  not  choose,  but  they 
could  and  did  choose,  to  be  Americans.  We  could 
not  appropriately  close  this  meeting  without  hearing 
from  a  representative  of  our  fellow-citizens  who 
were  born  abroad.  We  are  fortunate  in  having  with 
us  one  who  is  so  thoroughly  representative  of  what 
is  best  among  them,  who  himself  left  the  fatherland 
that  he  might  live  in  the  land  of  liberty,  and  who 
has  honorably  served  his  adopted  country  at  home 
and  abroad." 

I  addressed  them  as  follows: 

Mr.  President  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

In  my  humble  judgment,  this  would  not  be  sym 
metrical  unless  someone  should  give  voice  in  rec 
ognition  of  all  that  the  flag  symbolizes  and  typifies, 
especially  to  those  who  are  born  in  other  lands  and 
who  have  found  a  home,  refuge  and  happiness  un 
der  its  folds  in  this  country.  No  flag  of  any  other 


176  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

land,  save  that  of  Switzerland,  typifies  and  symbol 
izes  as  much  as  ours.  It  means  fraternity,  it  means 
devotion,  it  means  assimilation;  for  here,  under  its 
starry  folds,  have  come  men  and  women  of  all 
countries  to  find  that  freedom  which  in  their  own 
was  denied  them;  but  more  than  that,  and  to  which 
no  one  of  the  gifted  speakers  has  alluded  tonight, 
here  in  this  great  republic  the  Christian  and  the  Jew, 
the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic,  can  worship  God  ac 
cording  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience.  It  is  in  this 
spirit  that  our  flag  is  created,  and  which  no  other 
country  on  the  face  of  the  earth  permits.  A  love  of 
the  flag  inspires  the  Army  and  the  Navy  of  every 
land,  as  our  flag  inspires  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  but 
there  is  no  flag  so  pure,  so  just,  so  liberalizing  as 
ours.  There  is  no  flag  that  stands  for  so  much  culture 
and  true  civilization  as  the  flag  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  in  this  spirit  I  salute  it,  it  is  in  this  spirit  I  love 
and  revere  it,  and  it  is  in  this  spirit  that  I  wish 
it  transmitted  to  generations  unborn.  May  I  never 
see  its  starry  field  disfigured  or  stained  by  wrong,  by 
injustice,  or  anything  that  may  mark  any  change  that 
would  circumscribe  the  freedom  of  conscience  and 
the  right  of  good  citizenship,  for  which  it  has  stood 
in  times  past,  and  I  hope  and  trust  to  God  that  it  may 
ever  stand,  commemorative  of  all  that  is  great  and 
beautiful,  just  and  true  in  American  citizenship,  so 
that  when  it  shall  spread  its  folds  gloriously  to  the 
breeze  in  other  lands,  may  it  be  to  them  the  emblem 
it  typifies  for  us.  May  it  ever  reflect  the  American 
spirit  of  justice,  of  mercy,  of  truth,  and  all  those  ele 
ments  that  are  conducive  to  good  government  and  ele 
vated  citizenship." 

(These  words  of  mine  then  are  applicable  now.) 

President  McKinley's  attention  having  been  called  to 
my  speech,  he  expressed  great  pleasure  and  satis 
faction  when  he  saw  me  a  few  days  thereafter,  and 
said  that  I  had  struck  the  keynote  of  the  historical 
day. 


WILLIAM    MCKINLEY  177 

Just  after  President  McKinley's  inauguration  a 
deputation  of  Cuban  patriots  visited  Washington. 
They  called  on  me  to  aid  them  in  securing  a  hearing 
before  the  Committees  on  Foreign  Relations  of  the 
Senate  and  House,  of  which  Senator  John  Sherman 
and  Congressman  R.  R.  Hitt  were  Chairmen.  After 
a  great  deal  of  hard  work  I  succeeded  in  having  them 
secure  an  audience,  which  had  been  denied  them  for 
a  long  time.  I  also  inaugurated  a  mass  meeting  at 
the  theater,  which  was  crowded  to  the  doors,  and 
over  which  Corporal  James  Tanner  presided.  The 
meeting  was  most  enthusiastic  for  Cuban  indepen 
dence  and  in  aid  of  the  patriots.  After  independence 
had  been  secured,  as  a  result  of  the  Spanish-Ameri 
can  War,  the  gentlemen  with  whom  I  had  come  in 
contact  were  always  grateful,  and  in  my  testimonial 
Year  Rook  on  my  seventieth  birthday  the  first  Presi 
dent  of  Cuba  wrote: 

October  10,  1903. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  congratulate  you. 
Your  words  and  your  acts  in  our  behalf  can  never 
be  repaid  by  Cuba.  You  were  a  tower  of  strength 
to  all  of  us. 

Sincerely, 

T.  ESTRADA  PALMA. 

The  first  Minister  from  Cuba  to  the  United  States 
wrote  on  the  same  occasion  as  follows: 

Cuba  will  always  remember  his  noble  efforts  on 
and  in  behalf  of  her  independence,  during  the  dark 
days  of  her  struggle,  when  a  friend  was  a  friend 
indeed. 

GONZALES  DE  QUESADA. 


178  THE    PRESIDENTS    I    HAVE    KNOWN 

President  McKinley  was  thoroughly  aware  of  my 
efforts  and  enthusiastic  in  his  expression  of  appre 
ciation,  although  not  in  an  official  capacity  but  per 
sonally. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Spanish-American 
War  I  had  many  interviews  with  the  President,  who 
was  exceedingly  troubled  by  the  vast  responsibility 
imposed  upon  him.  He  was  seriously  opposed  to  any 
war  with  anyone,  but  when  the  hour  of  action  came 
he  rose  to  the  very  height  of  the  occasion.  When 
one  day  I  told  him  that  a  large  number  of  Russia 
Jews  had  enlisted  in  the  army,  who  had  fled  from  the 
land  of  their  birth  and  persecution,  he  was  visibly 
touched,  and  with  words  full  of  emotion  said,  "How 
wonderful  are  God's  ways." 

After  the  capture  of  Manila  by  Admiral  Dewey,  a 
movement  was  at  once  started  in  Washington  to 
tender  him  a  public  welcome,  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  matter.  As  a  mem 
ber  of  said  committee,  I  was  designated  to  have  pre 
pared  a  suitable  medal  in  commemoration  of  the 
historical  event,  which  I  did,  and  had  the  honor  of 
pinning  the  gold  medal  on  the  Admiral's  coat,  in  the 
harbor  of  New  York.  He  was  very  much  pleased 
with  the  design.  The  bronze  medals  which  were  dis 
tributed  among  members  of  the  committee  and  other 
persons  were  made  of  guns  captured  by  Dewey  at 
Manila. 

I  was  also  present  in  front  of  the  Capitol  when  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  presented  Admiral  Dewey 
with  the  sword  voted  by  Congress,  in  recognition  of 
his  heroism  in  Manila  Bay. 

From  that  date  up  to  the  time  of  the  Admiral's 
death,  our  relations  were  most  friendly  and  cordial. 


WILLIAM    MCKINLEY  179 

The  President  took  a  deep  and  sincere  interest  in 
the  treatment  of  the  Jews  on  the  part  of  those  coun 
tries  which  did  not  accord  them  full  and  equal  rights. 
He  often  spoke  to  me  how  anxious  he  was  not  only 
individually,  but  officially,  to  mitigate  their  suffer 
ings  and  bring  about  a  better  condition  worthy  of  the 
civilization  in  which  we  lived,  and  one  day  he  wrote 
me  the  following  letter : 

Executive  Mansion,  May  14,  1899. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  asking  me  to  use  the 
good  offices  of  the  Government  in  asking  Russia  to 
recognize  the  American  passport.  Nothing  would 
give  me  greater  pleasure  than  to  comply  with  your 
request,  and  I  have  instructed  the  Secretary  of  State 
to  bring  this  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  Russian 
Government. 

Very  sincerely, 

WM.  McKiNLEY. 

During  President  McKinley's  administration  I  was 
a  witness  before  the  United  States  Industrial  Com 
mission  at  the  Capitol,  and  was  examined  at  length 
on  various  subjects  of  national  importance,  indus 
trial  wage-earners,  immigration,  and  the  workings 
and  aims  of  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith. 
Sometime  after  this  testimony  the  President,  having 
undoubtedly  read  the  same,  complimented  me  upon 
the  American  spirit  that  pervaded  it. 

Just  before  he  went  to  Buffalo  in  September,  1901, 
I  had  a  very  pleasant  interview  with  him,  and  he 
was  full  of  optimistic  hope  for  the  country  and  a 
continuance  of  the  friendly  relations  with  all  gov 
ernments.  He  was  in  a  happy  frame  of  mind  and 


180  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

neither  of  us  had  the  faintest  conception  of  what 
was  to  transpire  in  the  near  future. 

A  great  many  Americans  do  not  fully  appreciate 
the  work  that  President  McKinley  did  during  his  life 
time,  as  a  statesman  and  as  an  executive.  His  con 
ception  of  duty  was  of  the  loftiest  character,  and  self 
never  dominated  him  for  a  moment.  His  treatment 
of  the  people  who  had  become  part  of  the  nation  in 
consequence  of  the  Spanish-American  War  was  of 
the  most  friendly  and  humane  character,  and  it  was 
his  impelling  force  of  justice  that  brought  about  a 
settlement  with  Spain  that  was  equitable  and  in  no 
way  partisan.  He  was  indeed  the  "Abou  Ben  Adhem" 
—he  loved  his  fellowmen,  and  in  the  pantheon  of 
great  Americans  he  will  ever  be  a  resplendent  figure. 
At  no  time  of  his  life  did  he  so  exemplify  his  charac 
ter  as  when  on  his  dying  bed  he  said,  "It  is  God's 
way" — that  had  been  his  dominant  thought  through 
out  life,  and  death  had  no  terrors  for  he  was  "Nearer, 
my  God  to  Thee" — with  his  dying  breath,  he  saw 
the  hand  of  the  arbiter  of  life  and  death  extended, 
and  heard  the  angels  of  good-will  shout  their  wel 
come.  In  the  city  in  which  he  was  so  beloved  and 
esteemed,  in  Canton,  Ohio,  he  was  laid  at  rest,  and 
his  mausoleum  has  become  a  Mecca,  not  in  the  same 
degree,  but  in  no  lesser  sense  than  that  of  Mt. 
Vernon. 

It  is  the  irony  of  fate  that  I  should  have  lived  to 
see  three  Presidents  of  the  United  States  assassinated, 
with  each  and  everyone  of  whom  I  was  on  terms 
of  intimacy  and  good-will — Abraham  Lincoln,  James 
A.  Garfield,  William  McKinley. 

The  Ohio  Republican  Association  of  the  City  of 
Washington  held  memorial  services  on  October  6, 


WILLIAM    MCKINLEY  181 

1901,  in  honor  of  the  martyred  President,  and  among 
other  speakers  I  was  invited  to  address  the  meeting, 
which  I  did  in  the  following  words: 

Years  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  and  honor  of  making 
the  acquaintance  of  William  McKinley,  which  soon 
ripened  into  a  lasting  friendship.  To  me  he  is  not 
dead,  but  lives  and  will  forever  live,  the  highest  ex 
ponent  of  truth,  patriotism  and  inspiring  American 
citizenship.  He  loved  the  Jew,  he  loved  the  Catholic, 
he  adored  his  own  faith,  and  to  each  and  every  one 
he  was  a  brother  and  felt  within  himself  towards 
each  and  every  one  the  kinship  born  of  the  highest 
ideals  of  Christianity  and  exalted  humanity.  In 
other  words,  he  represented  in  his  life-work  and 
thoughts  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood 
of  man.  In  this  spirit  William  McKinley  will  be 
forever  an  example  and  a  type,  and  I  can  tell  you 
here  today  that  in  the  enactment  of  laws  for  the  pur 
pose  of  preventing  anarchism,  and  for  the  punish 
ment  of  those  who  would  destroy  law  and  order  you 
will  find  none  who  will  more  heartily  and  enthusi 
astically  cooperate  in  destroying  this  hell-bound 
gang  of  miscreants  than  those  who  have  come  from 
other  lands.  You  can  depend  upon  that  to  a  cer 
tainty,  and  in  this  spirit  we  will  all  work  for  God 
and  country.  Jew  and  Christian  must  go  hand  in 
hand  in  appreciation  of  the  privileges  that  all  enjoy, 
and  which  must  forever  be  preserved  as  a  priceless 
legacy  and  be  transmitted  to  future  generations  as 
untarnished  and  as  luminous  of  light  and  hope  as 
we  enjoy  at  this  moment. 

The  great  life  of  the  immortal  martyred  President 
which  went  out  so  grandly  and  sublimely  will  be  for 
ever  an  inspiration  to  men  all  over  the  world,  and  in 
the  distant  islands  of  the  East  when  they  are  being 
navigated  by  American  ships  with  the  American  flag 
of  freedom  flying  at  their  topmast,  the  patriotism, 
generosity  and  Christian  humility  of  William  McKin- 


182  THE    PRESIDENTS    I    HAVE    KNOWN 

ley  will  continue  to  be  their  guiding  star  for  God  and 
country. 

No  one  can  appreciate  the  grand  characteristics  of 
Mr.  McKinley  more  than  I,  for  he  filled  the  measure 
of  my  fondest  hopes  of  what  a  man,  an  American 
and  a  gentleman  should  ever  be.  I  remember  well 
when  I  called  on  him  two  years  ago  to  invite  him 
and  his  Cabinet  to  be  present  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone  of  our  Jewish  Temple  in  this  city.  He 
said,  "Well,  Wolf,  I  really  do  not  see  how  I  can  come; 
I  am  very  busy  and  if  I  come  to  the  corner-stone  lay 
ing  of  your  Temple,  I  will  be  asked  to  go  to  each 
and  everyone  of  a  like  character."  I  said,  "But,  Mr. 
President,  you  know  that  you  have  no  warmer  friends 
than  the  American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith,  and  we 
look  upon  you  with  not  only  pride  but  with  gratitude 
for  the  many  evidences  of  good-will  you  have  ever 
exhibited  to  us,  not  only  in  your  present  position 
but  in  all  the  positions  that  you  have  heretofore  so 
honorably  filled,  that  it  would  be  a  great  impetus  to 
each  and  every  one  if  you  would  come."  He  promptly 
acquiesced  and  said  he  would  be  there,  and  he  was, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  features  of  that 
historic  occasion. 

President  McKinley  to  me  was  something  more  than 
what  he  was  to  others.  He  typified  in  a  concrete 
form  not  only  the  glorious  past  of  our  country,  but 
its  future.  He  became,  whether  by  decree  of  Provi 
dence  or  circumstances  beyond  his  control,  the  cen 
tral  figure  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
created  conditions  for  the  betterment  and  advance 
ment  of  the  United  States  which  can  never  be  de 
stroyed.  He  was  one  of  the  great  American  Presi 
dents,  and  his  name,  joined  with  his  immortal  pred 
ecessors,  will  live  not  only  in  the  annals  of  our  own 
country,  but  in  the  annals  of  history.  May  the  young 
men  and  young  women  of  our  country  be  inspired 
to  the  noblest  endeavor,  taking  as  an  example  the 
work  and  worth  of  the  great  American  typified  in 
the  life  and  service  of  William  McKinley. 


WILLIAM    MCKINLEY  183 

But  in  addition  to  what  President  McKinley  left  as 
a  priceless  legacy  to  his  countrymen  as  a  statesman 
and  a  patriot,  he  has  left  to  mankind  a  lesson  of 
courage,  of  strength,  of  human  endurance  at  the 
closing  hours  of  his  life  that  outranks  him  with  any 
other  man  of  his  time  or  any  time,  and  the  death-bed 
scene  will  in  future  years  be  portrayed  in  sculpture 
and  on  canvas  and  be  sung  in  immortal  verse  by 
the  poets  of  the  future,  equal  to  any  for  which  Rome 
and  Greece  have  become  immortal. 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

My  acquaintance  with  Theodore  Roosevelt  began 
when  he  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Civil 
Service  Commission,  and  continued  through  the  peri 
ods  of  his  activity  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
then  as  Superintendent  of  Police  of  New  York  City; 
as  Governor  of  New  York  State;  as  Vice  President 
of  the  United  States;  as  the  successor  of  President 
McKinley  upon  the  latter's  death;  and  continued 
throughout  the  period  of  his  administration  after  his 
election  to  the  Presidency,  and  which  has  continued 
to  this  date.  During  all  this  time  I  have  enjoyed 
his  good-will  and  friendship.  Throughout  his  in 
cumbency  of  all  the  various  public  offices  which  he 
had  occupied,  I  have  watched  with  interest  his  won 
derful  activity  and  ability.  But  none  of  the  defects 
of  his  temperament  has  included  a  lack  of  patriot 
ism,  or  an  absence  of  that  spirit  of  optimism  which 
has  marked  his  whole  career. 

He  is  a  great  reader,  a  student  of  history.  When 
I  called  his  attention  to  my  book,  "The  American 
Jew,"  he  told  me  all  about  it,  and  with  a  great  deal 
of  enthusiasm  congratulated  me  upon  having  writ 
ten  it. 

I  had  the  good  fortune  to  call  on  him  time  and 
again  on  various  matters  of  national  and  interna 
tional  import  and  was  always  met  with  a  spirit  of 
frankness  and  alertness  on  the  subject-matter  at 
hand  that  was,  to  say  the  least,  inspiring  and  forceful. 

Just  after  Mr.  Roosevelt  became  President  I  called 
his  attention,  not  only  to  the  outrages  practiced  in 
Russia,  but  to  the  discriminations  in  Roumania.  He 
took  an  interest  in  both  questions,  and  said  that  the 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 
1901-1909 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  185 

Roumanian  question  was  in  the  hands  of  Secretary 
Hay,  who  was  preparing  a  note  on  the  subject. 

In  the  summer  of  1902  a  committee  composed  of 
members  of  Congress  called  on  me  and  asked  me  to 
be  the  spokesman  at  a  conference  with  President 
Roosevelt.  All  of  the  members  were  Democrats,  but 
they  thought  more  could  be  accomplished  by  taking 
an  active  Republican  as  their  spokesman.  I  doubted 
this  position,  knowing  that  the  President  would  grant 
an  interview  to  anyone  and  be  thoroughly  outspoken 
on  any  subject  presented,  but  I  finally  yielded  to 
their  urgent  request,  and  we  went  to  the  White 
House.  The  purpose  of  the  conference  was  to  urge 
the  President  to  do  whatever  possible  in  his  power 
to  secure  the  recognition  of  the  American  passport 
in  Russia,  and  to  prevent  further  pogroms.  The 
President  was  undoubtedly  much  concerned,  and  in 
his  stentorian  voice  said,  "Give  me  a  larger  Navy 
and  Army  and  possibly  I  might  do  some  good  in 
Russia,"  and  bluntly  said  to  me,  "You  ought  to  have 
known  better  than  to  come  here  on  such  a  mission." 
We  left  the  White  House,  and  the  members  of  Con 
gress  were  very  much  annoyed,  but  as  I  expected, 
were  not  at  all  displeased  at  the  rebuff  we  had  re 
ceived.  On  my  return  from  the  White  House  I  wrote 
the  President  a  letter  concerning  the  interview,  and 
the  following  is  a  reply: 

Oyster  Bay,  N.  Y.,  July  22,  1902. 
Mr.  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  18th.  If  you  will 
call  upon  Dr.  Hill,  the  Acting  Secretary  of  State,  he 
will  show  you  privately  a  copy  of  Secretary  Hay's 
dispatch  to  Roumania. 


186  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

As  soon  as  you  had  had  your  first  interview  with 
me  I  took  the  matter  up  with  the  Secretary.  As  yet, 
it  would  not  be  proper  to  publish  the  memorandum. 
I  am  also  at  work  upon  the  Russian  matter  of  which 
you  spoke  to  me. 

It  will  always  be  a  great  pleasure  to  see  you,  but 
I  think  the  trouble  has  come  from  your  not  making 
an  appointment  in  advance.  It  is  very  difficult  for 
me  to  discuss  matters  with  you  in  the  presence  of 
three  or  four  others.  I  shall  be  more  than  pleased 
at  any  time  to  make  such  an  appointment  with  you 
as  you  suggest,  when  we  can  go  over  all  of  these 
matters  at  length. 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 
MR.  SIMON  WOLF, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

In  answer  to  a  letter  addressed  by  me  to  Mr.  Hay, 
asking  him  to  be  present  at  a  public  meeting  in  re 
gard  to  the  Roumanian  question,  he  replied  as  fol 
lows: 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  November  4,  1902. 
Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  received  your  kind  letter  of  the  30th  of 
October,  but  it  is  out  of  my  power  to  make  the 
engagement  that  you  suggest.  I  am  deeply  touched 
and  grateful  for  all  the  manifestations  of  good-will 
which  have  come  to  me  from  every  part  of  the  coun 
try  in  regard  to  the  matter  you  mention,  but  I  am 
disinclined  to  take  any  special  personal  credit  for 
the  action  of  this  Government,  and  least  of  all  to 
place  myself  in  the  position  of  accepting  such  mani 
festations  in  public. 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  187 

I  hope  you  will  kindly  accept  this  assurance  for 
yourself,  and  communicate  it  to  any  of  your  friends 
who  are  interested. 

I  am,  with  heartfelt  thanks, 

Sincerely  yours, 

JOHN  HAY. 
HON.  SIMON  WOLF, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

On  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  outbreak  of  barbar 
ism,  which  had  wrought  such  bloody  ruin  and  dese 
cration  among  the  unfortunate  Jewish  people  of 
Kishineff,  I  took  action  immediately  to  bring  the 
matter  to  the  attention  of  our  State  Department.  In 
order  to  obtain  a  reliable  account  of  the  terrible 
calamity,  and  to  ascertain  what  relief  was  required, 
my  letter  to  the  Secretary  was  in  the  nature  of  an 
inquiry,  and  read  as  follows: 

Washington,  April  29,  1903. 
Hon.  John  Hay,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Sir:  You  have  no  doubt  been  made  aware  of  the 
fact  that  the  cable  has  brought  news  of  terrible  out 
rages  and  massacres  practiced  upon  the  Jews  of 
Kishineff  in  Russia.  These  reports  by  cable  have 
been  supplemented  by  private  cablegrams,  which  not 
only  confirm,  but  augment  the  terrible  outrages  and 
murders  perpetrated  upon  the  unhappy  citizens  of 
Kishineff  of  Jewish  faith.  As  many  of  these  people 
have  relatives  in  this  country  who  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  they  naturally  feel  anxious  about 
the  condition  of  things,  and  also  how  far  they  can 
aid  in  sending  supplies  and  money  to  the  wounded 
and  unwounded  sufferers.  To  that  end,  as  Chairman 


188  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

of  the  Board  of  Delegates  of  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations,  and  as  a  member  of  the  Ex 
ecutive  Committee  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
B'nai  B'rith,  I  would  like  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  instruct  our  Ambassador  to  Russia 
by  cable  to  secure  at  once  prompt  and  reliable  in 
formation  as  to  these  outrages  and  the  condition  of 
the  unfortunate  victims  of  cruel  persecution,  and 
how  far  the  Russian  Government  will  permit  us  to 
send  supplies  and  aid  financially  those  who  are  in 
distress. 

I  am  sure  in  asking  this  I  am  not  overstepping  the 
boundaries  of  the  courtesies  that  should  exist  be 
tween  the  two  countries,  and  am  absolutely  sure  that 
the  Department  of  State  in  this  instance,  as  in  many 
other  like  instances,  will  cheerfully  and  readily  co 
operate  to  the  end  that  the  facts  may  be  known  offi 
cially  and  the  remedy  applied  as  far  as  lies  within 
the  power  of  our  Government,  and  so  far  as  permis 
sion  will  be  given  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

On  May  5th  following,  I  wrote  to  the  State  Depart 
ment  again  to  inquire  if  any  reply  had  been  received 
to  the  cable  which  the  Secretary  of  State  had  sent 
at  my  request,  to  which  letter  I  received  the  follow 
ing  reply: 

Simon  Wolf,  Esq., 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  this  date  in  refer 
ence  to  the  reported  massacre  of  Jews  in  Russia.  The 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  189 

Department  acted  immediately  concerning  this  mat 
ter  on  your  suggestion,  and  sent  a  cable  to  our  Am 
bassador  at  St.  Petersburg  directing  him  to  make  an 
investigation — to  ascertain  whether  supplies  would 
be  received,  and  to  report  as  soon  as  possible.  Up 
to  this  time  we  have  not  heard  from  him,  but  pre 
sume  he  is  giving  this  matter  his  best  attention.  I 
will  keep  you  advised  on  the  subject. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

FRANCIS  B.  LOOMIS, 
Assistant  Secretary. 

On  May  9th  another  letter  was  received  from  the 
State  Department,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy: 

Department  of  State, 
Office  of  the  Assistant  Secretary, 

Washington,  May  9,  1903. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  G. 
Sir: 

Referring  to  your  letter  of  April  29th,  I  have  the 
honor  to  confirm  my  conversations  with  you  by 
telephone,  in  one  of  which  I  stated  that  a  cablegram 
had  been  sent  to  our  Ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg, 
directing  him  to  ascertain  if  supplies  for  the  benefit 
of  Jews  stated  to  be  suffering  in  Kishineff  would  be 
received,  if  forwarded  from  this  country  for  the  re 
lief  of  the  sufferers. 

The  Department  is  just  in  receipt  of  the  following 
cablegram  from  Ambassador  McGormick  at  St. 
Petersburg : 

"It  is  authoritatively  denied  that  there  is  any 
want  or  suffering  among  Jews  in  southwestern 
Russia,  and  aid  of  any  kind  is  unnecessary. 


190  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

While  the  offer  and  spirit  in  which  it  is  made  is 
appreciated,  it  is  gratefully  declined." 
Respectfully  yours, 

FRANCIS  B.  LOOMIS, 
Assistant  Secretary. 

The  President  of  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai 
B'rith,  Leo  N.  Levi,  following  upon  my  action,  issued 
a  circular  to  the  members  of  the  Order  at  home  and 
abroad,  calling  their  attention  to  what  was  being 
done  in  Washington,  and  asking  their  co-operation, 
which  was  readily  accorded. 

I  then  urged  Mr.  Levi  to  hold  a  meeting  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Order  in  June,  1903,  in 
the  City  of  Washington.  I  pointed  out  to  him  the 
importance  of  doing  so;  I  would  arrange  an  inter 
view  with  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State 
to  secure  their  co-operation,  and  if  possible,  inter 
vention  with  Russia.  Mr.  Levi  accepted  my  sugges 
tion,  and  the  meeting  was  called  for  June  14,  1903, 
I  having  secured  the  consent  of  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  State  to  grant  an  interview  and  confer 
ence,  with  our  committee. 

On  this  date,  June  14,  1903,  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Executive  Committee  took  place  at  the  Arlington 
Hotel,  at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  greater  portion  of 
the  day  and  several  hours  of  the  night  were  devoted 
to  a  careful  consideration  of  the  plans  submitted  by 
the  President  of  the  Committee  (Mr.  Levi),  for  the 
conference  to  be  held  the  following  day  with  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt  and  Secretary  Hay.  The  proposed 
communication  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  the 
tentative  draft  of  a  petition  to  the  Czar  accompany- 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  191 

ing  the  same,  were  discussed  at  great  length,  and 
iinally  given  the  sanction  of  the  entire  committee. 

During  the  session  of  the  committee  word  was  re 
ceived  that  Count  Gassini,  the  Russian  Ambassador 
to  the  United  States,  would  be  willing  to  confer  with 
Mr.  Levi  and  myself,  during  the  afternoon,  touching 
the  affair  at  Kishineff.  This  information,  while  not 
coming  in  an  official  form,  was  entirely  reliable,  and 
it  became  necessary  for  us  to  determine  what  should 
be  done  in  reference  thereto. 

It  was  finally  concluded,  in  view  of  the  appoint 
ment  with  the  President  and  Secretary  of  State  on 
the  day  following,  that  it  would  be  indecorous  to 
have  any  conference  with  the  Russian  Ambassador 
in  advance  of  the  audience  granted  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States. 

On  June  15,  1903,  our  committee,  as  previously  ar 
ranged,  called  in  a  body  at  the  State  Department,  and 
were  received  by  Hon.  John  Hay,  Secretary  of  State. 
Mr.  Levi  acted  as  spokesman,  addressed  the  Secre 
tary,  and  as  part  of  his  remarks  submitted  the  com 
munication  and  tentative  draft  of  petition  which  had 
been  considered  and  approved  by  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Order  on  the  day  previous. 

The  Secretary  made  first  an  official  reply,  after 
which  he  engaged  in  an  informal  but  earnest  dis 
cussion  of  the  subject  with  us. 

"No  person  of  ordinary  humanity  can  have  heard 
without  deep  emotion  the  story  of  the  cruel  outrages 
inflicted  upon  the  Jews  of  Kishineff.  These  lamen 
table  events  have  caused  the  profoundest  impression 
throughout  the  world,  but  most  especially  in  this 
country,  where  there  are  so  many  of  your  co-religion 
ists  who  form  such  a  desirable  element  of  our  popu- 


192  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

lation  in  industry,  thrift,  public  spirit  and  commer 
cial  morality.  Nobody  can  ever  make  the  Americans 
think  ill  of  the  Jews  as  a  class  or  as  a  race — we  know 
them  too  well.  In  the  painful  crisis  through  which 
we  are  now  passing,  the  Jews  of  the  United  States 
have  given  evidence  of  the  highest  qualities — gener 
osity,  love  of  justice  and  power  of  self-restraint. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  must  exhibit 
the  same  qualities.  I  know  you  do  not  doubt  the 
sentiments  of  the  President.  No  one  hates  more  en 
ergetically  than  he  does  such  acts  of  cruelty  and 
injustice  as  those  we  deplore.  But  he  must  carefully 
consider  all  the  circumstances  and  then  decide 
whether  any  official  action  can  be  taken  in  addition 
to  the  impressive  and  most  effective  expression  of 
public  opinion  in  this  country  during  the  last  month. 

You  will  have  observed  that  no  civilized  govern 
ment  in  the  world  has  yet  taken  official  action — this 
consideration  alone  would  bid  us  to  proceed  with 
care.  The  Emperor  of  Russia  is  entitled  to  our  re 
spect,  not  merely  as  the  ruler  of  a  great  and  friendly 
nation,  but  as  a  man  whose  personal  character  is 
even  more  elevated  than  his  exalted  station. 

We  should  not  be  justified  in  assuming  that  this 
enlightened  sovereign,  who  has  given  so  many  proofs 
of  his  devotion  to  peace  and  religious  toleration,  has 
not  done  and  is  not  doing  all  that  lies  in  his  power 
to  put  a  stop  to  these  atrocities,  to  punish  the  guilty, 
whether  they  belong  to  the  ignorant  populace  or  to 
high  official  circles,  and  to  prevent  the  recurrence 
of  the  outrages  which  have  so  shocked  humanity. 

In  fact,  all  we  know  of  the  state  of  things  in  Rus 
sia  tends  to  justify  the  hope  that  even  out  of  the 
present  terrible  situation  some  good  results  may 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  193 

come;  that  He  who  watches  over  Israel  does  not 
slumber,  and  that  the  wrath  of  man,  now,  as  so  often 
in  the  past,  shall  he  made  to  praise  Him." 

The  conference  lasted  for  forty  minutes,  at  the 
end  of  which  time,  escorted  by  the  Secretary  of 
State,  we  repaired  to  the  White  House,  where  the 
President  was  awaiting  us. 

Mr.  Levi,  acting  as  our  spokesman,  briefly  referred 
to  the  conference  with  Secretary  Hay,  and  submitted 
for  examination  a  copy  of  the  communication  and 
tentative  draft  of  petition  which  had  been  lodged 
with  the  Secretary.  The  President  carefully  exam 
ined  the  same,  making  comments  as  he  read.  When 
he  had  finished  reading  he  thanked  us  and  addressed 
the  Committee  as  follows: 

"Mr.  Chairman:  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  fact 
so  patent  as  the  widespread  indignation  with  which 
the  American  people  heard  of  the  dreadful  outrages 
upon  the  Jews  in  Kishineff.  I  have  never  in  my  ex 
perience  in  this  country  known  of  a  more  immediate 
or  a  deeper  expression  of  sympathy  for  the  victims 
and  of  horror  over  the  appalling  calamity  that  has 
occurred. 

It  is  natural  that  while  the  whole  civilized  world 
should  express  such  a  feeling,  it  should  yet  be  most 
intense  and  most  widespread  in  the  United  States; 
for  of  all  the  great  Powers  I  think  I  may  say  that  the 
United  States  is  that  country  in  which  from  the  be 
ginning  of  its  natural  career  most  has  been  done  in 
the  way  of  acknowledging  the  debt  due  to  the  Jew 
ish  race  and  of  endeavoring  to  do  justice  to  those 
American  citizens  who  are  of  Jewish  ancestry  and 
faith. 


194  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

One  of  the  most  touching  poems  of  our  own  great 
poet  Longfellow,  is  that  in  the  Jewish  cemetery  in 
Newport,  and  anyone  who  goes  through  any  of  the 
old  cemeteries  of  the  cities  which  preserve  the  rec 
ords  of  Colonial  times  will  see  the  names  of  many 
an  American  of  Jewish  race,  who,  in  war  or  in  peace, 
did  his  full  share  in  the  founding  of  this  nation. 

From  that  day  to  this,  from  the  day  when  the 
Jews  of  Charleston,  of  Philadelphia,  of  New  York 
supported  the  patriotic  cause  and  helped  in  every 
way,  not  only  by  money,  but  by  arms,  Washington 
and  his  colleagues  who  were  founding  this  republic 
—from  that  day  to  the  present  we  have  had  no  strug 
gle,  military  or  civil,  in  which  there  have  not  been 
citizens  of  Jewish  faith  who  played  an  eminent  part 
for  the  honor  and  the  credit  of  the  nation. 

I  remember  once  General  Howard  mentioning  to 
me  the  fact  that  two  of  his  brigade  commanders 
upon  whom  he  had  placed  special  reliance  were 
Jews.  Among  the  meetings  of  the  Grand  Army 
which  I  have  attended  one  stands  out  with  peculiar 
vividness — a  meeting  held  under  the  auspices  of  the 
men  of  the  Grand  Army  of  Jewish  creed,  in  the  Tem 
ple  in  Forty-fourth  Street,  Temple  Emanu-El,  to 
welcome  the  returned  veterans  of  the  Spanish-Amer 
ican  War  of  Jewish  faith. 

When  in  Santiago,  when  I  was  myself  in  the  army, 
one  of  the  best  colonels  among  the  regular  regiments, 
who  did  so  well  on  that  day  and  who  fought  beside 
me,  was  a  Jew.  One  of  the  commanders  of  the 
ships  which  in  the  blockade  of  the  Cuban  coast  did 
so  well  was  a  Jew.  In  my  own  regiment  I  promoted 
five  men  from  the  ranks  for  valor  and  good  conduct 
in  battle.  It  happened  by  pure  accident,  for  I  knew 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  195 

nothing  of  the  faith  of  any  one  of  them,  that  these 
included  two  Protestants,  two  Catholics  and  one 
Jew;  and  while  that  was  a  pure  accident  it  was  not 
without  its  value  as  an  illustration  of  the  ethnic  and 
religious  makeup  of  our  nation  and  of  the  fact  that 
if  a  man  is  a  good  American  that  is  all  we  ask,  with 
out  thinking  of  his  creed  or  his  birthplace. 

In  the  same  way  when  I  was  Police  Commissioner 
in  New  York,  I  had  experience  after  experience  of 
the  excellent  work  done — an  excellent  work  needing 
nerve  and  hardihood,  excellent  work  of  what  I  might 
call  the  Maccabee  type — in  the  Police  Departmnet 
under  me  by  police  officers  of  Jewish  extraction. 

Let  me  give  you  one  little  incident  with  a  direct 
bearing  upon  this  question  of  persecution  for  race 
or  religious  reasons.  You  may  possibly  recall,  I  am 
sure  certain  of  my  New  York  friends  will  recall,  that 
during  the  time  I  was  Police  Commissioner  a  man 
came  from  abroad — I  am  sorry  to  say,  a  clergyman — 
to  start  an  anti-Jewish  agitation  in  New  York,  and 
announced  his  intention  of  holding  meetings  to  as 
sail  the  Jews. 

The  matter  was  brought  to  my  attention.  Of 
course  I  had  no  power  to  prevent  those  meetings. 
After  a  good  deal  of  thought  I  detailed  a  Jewish  ser 
geant  and  forty  Jewish  policemen  to  protect  the 
agitator  while  he  held  his  meetings;  so  he  made  his 
speeches,  denouncing  the  Jews  protected  exclusively 
by  Jews,  which  I  always  thought  was  probably  the 
very  most  effective  answer  that  could  possibly  be 
made  to  him,  and  probably  the  best  object  lesson  we 
could  give  of  the  spirit  in  which  we  Americans  man 
age  such  matters. 

Now  let  me  give  you  another  little  example  or 


196  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

dealing  with  a  Russian  Jew,  an  experience  that  1 
had  while  handling  the  Police  Department,  and  that 
could  have  occurred,  I  think,  nowhere  else  than 
in  the  United  States. 

There  was  a  certain  man  I  appointed  under  the 
following  conditions:  I  was  attracted  to  him  by  be 
ing  told,  on  a  visit  to  the  Bowery  branch  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  that  they  had  a 
young  fellow  there,  a  Jew,  who  had  performed  a  feat 
of  great  note  in  saving  people  from  a  burning  build 
ing  and  that  they  thought  he  was  just  the  type  for 
a  policeman.  I  had  him  called  up  and  told  him  to 
take  the  examination  and  see  if  he  could  get  there. 
He  did  and  he  passed.  He  has  not  only  been  an  ex 
cellent  policeman,  but  he  at  once,  out  of  his  salary, 
proceeded  to  educate  his  younger  brothers  and  sis 
ters,  and  he  got  either  two  or  three  of  his  old  kins 
folk  over  from  Russia  through  the  money  he  saved,, 
and  provided  homes  for  them. 

I  have  given  you  examples  of  men  who  have  served 
under  me  in  my  administration  of  the  Police  De 
partment  in  New  York  and  in  my  regiment.  In  ad 
dition  thereto  some  of  my  nearest  social  friends, 
some  of  those  with  whom  I  have  been  closest  in 
political  life,  have  been  men  of  Jewish  faith  and 
extraction. 

Therefore,  inevitably  I  have  felt  a  degree  of  per 
sonal  sympathy  and  personal  horror  of  this  dreadful 
tragedy,  as  great  as  can  exist  in  the  minds  of  any 
of  you  gentlemen  yourselves.  Exactly  as  I  should 
claim  the  same  sympathy  from  any  one  of  you  for 
any  tragedy  that  happened  to  any  Christian  people, 
so  I  should  hold  myself  unworthy  of  my  present 
position  if  I  failed  to  feel  just  as  deep  horror  over 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  197 

an  outrage  like  this  done  to  the  Jewish  people  in  any 
part  of  the  earth.  I  am  confident  that  much  good  has 
already  been  done  by  the  manifestations  throughout 
this  country,  without  any  regard  to  creed  whatso 
ever,  of  horror  and  sympathy  over  what  has  oc 
curred. 

It  is  gratifying  to  know,  what  we  would,  of  course, 
assume,  that  the  Government  of  Russia  shares  the 
feelings  of  horror  and  indignation  with  which  the 
American  people  look  upon  the  outrages  at  Kishineff 
and  is  moving  vigorously  not  only  to  prevent  their 
continuance,  but  to  punish  the  perpetrators.  That 
Government  takes  the  same  view  of  those  outrages 
that  our  own  Government  takes  of  the  riots  and 
lynchings  which  sometimes  occur  in  our  country,  but 
do  not  characterize  either  our  Government  or  our 
people. 

I  have  been  visited  by  the  Russian  Ambassador  on 
his  own  initiative,  and  in  addition  to  what  has  been 
said  to  Secretary  Hay,  the  Russian  Ambassador  has 
notified  me  personally  without  an  inquiry  upon  my 
part,  that  the  Government  of  Kishineff  has  been  re 
moved;  that  between  three  and  four  hundred  of  the 
participants  in  the  outrages  have  been  arrested;  and 
he  voluntarily  stated  that  those  men  would  be  pun 
ished  to  the  utmost  that  the  law  would  permit. 

I  will  consider  most  carefully  the  suggestions  that 
you  have  submitted  to  me,  and  whether  the  now  ex 
isting  conditions  are  such  that  any  further  official 
expression  would  be  of  advantage  to  the  unfortunate 
survivors,  with  whom  we  sympathize  so  deeply. 
Nothing  that  has  occurred  recently  has  had  my  more 
constant  thought,  and  nothing  will  have  my  more 
constant  thought  than  this  subject 


198  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

In  any  proper  way  by  which  beneficial  action  may 
be  taken,  it  will  be  taken,  to  show  the  sincerity  of 
the  historic  American  position  of  treating  each  man 
on  his  merits  without  the  least  reference  to  his  creed, 
his  race  or  his  birthplace." 

While  dictating  his  views,  he  frequently  stopped 
to  discuss  at  length  and  in  an  informal  way,  matters 
that  appeared  in  the  official  reply  which  he  was  giv 
ing  to  the  stenographer. 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  remarks  Mr.  Levi  asked 
the  pleasure  of  President  Roosevelt  as  to  communi 
cating  the  result  of  the  meeting  to  the  press.  After 
some  discussion  it  was  concluded  to  give  to  the  press 
the  communication  and  the  tentative  draft  of  the 
petition  which  had  been  delivered  to  Secretary  Hay, 
and  a  copy  of  which  had  been  examined  by  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt,  along  with  the  official  remarks  of 
President  Roosevelt  and  Secretary  Hay. 

The  President  expressed  himself  as  deeply  inter 
ested  in  the  work  of  the  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  and 
readily  consented  to  send  his  autographed  picture  to 
be  hung  in  B'nai  B'rith  Headquarters.  Secretary 
Hay  also  consented  to  send  his. 

The  conference  with  President  Roosevelt  lasted 
for  one  hour,  at  the  termination  of  which  the  Presi-  - 
dent  made  hasty  preparations  to  go  to  Baltimore 
to  attend  the  Saengerfest.  It  had  been  arranged  that 
the  German  Ambassador,  Baron  Speck  von  Stern- 
berg,  was  to  accompany  him  as  his  guest,  and  as  a 
mark  of  his  personal  esteem,  and  as  further  evidence 
of  the  interest  felt  by  him  in  the  subject  of  the  con 
ference,  at  the  end  thereof  he  invited  me  also  to 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  199 

accompany  him  to  Baltimore  as  his  guest,  which 
invitation  I  accepted. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  June  15th,  the  President 
gave  out  the  official  report  of  the  conferences,  as 
had  been  agreed  upon,  which  report  has  been  exten 
sively  printed  heretofore. 

Having  given  the  matter  due  thought  and  delibera 
tion  as  to  the  advisability  of  sending  the  Kishineff 
Petition  to  the  Russian  Government,  the  President, 
through  Secretary  Hay,  communicated  to  me  his 
decision,  as  per  the  following  letter: 

White  House,  June  24,  1903. 
Dear  Sir: 

The  President  has  concluded  to  transmit  to  the 
Russian  Government  the  petition  of  which  you  pre 
sented  him  a  draft  on  the  fifteenth  of  this  month. 
The  matter  which  he  had  to  consider  most  seriously 
was  whether  or  not  such  a  proceeding  would  be  to 
the  advantage  of  your  persecuted  and  outraged  co 
religionists  in  Russia.  On  this  point  he  has  decided 
to  accept  your  opinion,  and  that  of  the  numerous 
and  intelligent  groups  of  American  citizens  of  the 
Jewish  faith  whom  you  represent.  He  requests  that 
you  will  send  him  the  petition  in  due  form  at  your 
earliest  convenience. 

Of  course  you  will  understand  that  the  President 
can  not  tell  you  what  reception  your  petition  will 
meet  with  at  the  hands  of  the  Russian  Government. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Faithfully  yours, 

JOHN  HAY. 
HON.  SIMON  WOLF, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


200  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

After  the  publication  of  the  report  of  the  meeting 
with  the  President  and  Secretary  Hay,  many  offers 
of  assistance  and  co-operation  were  received.  One 
of  especial  value  was  considered  that  of  Hon.  Oscar 
S.  Straus,  who  was  quick  to  appreciate  the  great 
value  and  importance  of  the  utterances  made  by 
President  Roosevelt  and  Secretary  Hay,  and  of  the 
decision  of  the  President  to  send  the  petition  to  Rus 
sia.  The  offer  was  promptly  accepted,  and  through 
out  the  subsequent  proceedings  Mr.  Straus'  wise 
counsel  and  energetic  co-operation  were  of  inesti 
mable  value. 

Scarcely  had  the  petitions  been  sent  out  for  signa 
ture  when  President  Roosevelt  evinced  a  strong  de 
sire  to  have  the  petition  delivered  to  him  for  trans 
mission.  The  expression  of  this  wish  by  the  Presi 
dent  occasioned  the  utmost  embarrassment,  as  will 
be  observed  in  the  correspondence  which  follows: 

Under  date  of  July  2,  1903,  I  wrote  a  letter  of 
which  the  following  is  a  copy: 

Bro.  Leo  N.  Levi, 
27  Pine  Street, 

New  York  City. 
Mr.  Dear  Friend : 

As  I  telephoned  you  today,  I  was  called  upon  by 
the  State  Department,  which  stated  that  they  had 
received  a  message  from  the  President  asking  us  to 
file  our  petition.  I  did  my  best  to  impress  Secretary 
Loomis  with  the  impossibility  of  immediate  action, 
telling  him  the  reasons  therefor,  and  he  agreed  to 
telephone  to  the  President  and  let  me  know  later. 

In  the  meantime,  I  called  up  Oyster  Bay  and  had 
a  talk  with  Secretary  Loeb,  and  asked  him  to  request 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  201 

the  President  to  await  before  taking  any  action,  the 
receipt  of  a  letter  from  me,  a  copy  of  which  letter 
I  enclose  herewith. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

My  letter  to  the  President,  under  the  same  date, 
was  as  follows: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  July  2,  1903. 
To  the  President: 

Prior  to  receiving  word  from  Secretary  Loomis, 
I  had  anticipated  your  request,  based  not  only  on 
what  appeared  today  in  the  Associated  Press  dis 
patches,  but  also  from  information  that  I  had  re 
ceived  outside  of  the  effect  that  Russian  influences 
were  at  work  to  prevent  American  citizens  from 
signing  the  petition  which  you  had  consented  to 
transmit  to  Russia. 

Of  course,  you  understand  that  the  question  of 
time  had  never  entered  into  any  of  our  calculations. 
We  anticipated  forwarding  to  representative  cities 
of  our  country  blank  petitions  to  be  signed  by  rep 
resentative  citizens,  irrespective  of  faith,  which,  you 
remember,  we  impressed  upon  you  at  our  confer 
ence,  and  which  met  your  approval.  Now  it  would 
seem  from  the  message  received  from  you  through 
the  State  Department  this  morning  that  you  wish 
the  petition  at  once,  which  is  almost  a  physical  im 
possibility  at  this  season  of  the  year,  when  so  many 
prominent  citizens  are  absent  on  their  vacations, 
thus  making  it  a  hard  matter  to  secure  their  signa 
tures.  Based  upon  your  request,  however,  we  can 
by  expediting  the  matter  have  the  petition  ready  in- 


202  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

side  of  a  week.  It  will  not  be  so  representative  as 
we  expected,  but  it  will  be  sufficiently  important  to 
give  evidence  of  the  universal  feeling  on  the  part  of 
American  citizens. 

Therefore,  I  respectfully  ask  that  you  give  us  this 
time,  or  if  necessary  to  have  further  conference  on 
this  subject,  as  you  may  have  reasons  for  haste  of 
which  at  this  end  we  are  not  aware — in  that  case  Mr. 
Oscar  Straus,  or  Mr.  Levi,  or  myself,  or  all  three  of 
us,  as  you  choose,  will  promptly  come  to  Oyster  Bay 
at  your  summons.  I  wish  to  reiterate  what  I  have 
tried  to  convey  through  the  means  of  the  press,  that 
this  is  not  a  Jewish  petition,  but  one  emanating  from 
American  citizens,  to  be  signed  mainly  by  those  who 
participated  in  the  public  meetings  expressive  of 
their  sympathy  and  protest.  I  am,  Mr.  President, 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

In  view  of  my  letter  to  the  President,  as  well  as 
correspondence  between  him  and  Mr.  Leo  N.  Levi, 
President  Roosevelt  invited  Mr.  Levi,  Mr.  Straus  and 
myself  to  luncheon  at  Oyster  Bay  on  the  14th  day  of 
July,  1903. 

Before  going  to  visit  the  President  several  confer 
ences  were  had  between  Messrs.  Levi,  Straus  and 
myself,  resulting  in  perfect  accord  of  views. 

The  President  received  us  at  Sagamore  Hill  with 
the  cordiality  and  informality  for  which  he  is  so 
justly  celebrated. 

At  the  luncheon  there  was  a  member  of  the  English 
Parliament  present  as  one  of  the  guests,  as  well  as 
Dr.  Albert  Shaw,  editor  of  the  Review  of  Reviews. 
The  President's  daughter  Alice,  now  Mrs.  Nicholas 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  203 

Longworth,  presided  at  the  table,  in  the  absence  of 
her  mother,  who  was  indisposed. 

The  President  made  known  the  important  consid 
erations  which  made  it  necessary  to  act  without  fur 
ther  delay.  It  would  not  be  proper  to  disclose  what 
these  considerations  were.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  they 
were  convincing.  He  said  that  it  was  his  purpose  to 
send  forward  the  petition,  as  originally  designed  by 
him,  unless  satisfactory  reasons  could  be  produced 
in  favor  of  some  other  course;  that  we  had  through 
out  displayed  such  conservation  that  he  was  dis 
posed  to  defer  to  our  views,  and  therefore  invited  a 
full  and  free  discussion. 

The  views  arrived  at  in  the  conferences  between 
Messrs.  Levi,  Straus  and  myself,  were  then  set  forth, 
and  in  substance,  were  as  follows: 

1.  That  the  petition  had  been  in  circulation  but  a 
few  days,  and  only  two  or  three  thousand  signatures 
had  come  in.    These  were  from  nearby  points,  and 
the  petition  in  its  then  form  could  not  be  regarded 
as  representative  of  the  views  of  the  entire  people 
of  this  country.     As  it  was  important  and  necessary 
to  act  at  once,  the  then  condition  of  the  petition 
argued  against  forwarding  it  in  the  first  instance. 

2.  So  far  as  its  effect  in  Russia  was  concerned,  that 
had  already  been  obtained,  unless,  indeed,  it  should 
receive  favorable  reception  at  the  hands  of  the  Rus 
sian  Government.     Therefore,  it  was  important  to 
consider  the  situation  in  two  aspects: 

a.  If  it  should  be  accepted,  it  would  not,  in  its 
present  form,  have  the  same  effect  as  that  which  it 
would  produce  when  completed  as  originally  in 
tended.  If  the  Russian  Government  should  decide  to 


204  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

receive  the  petition,  it  would  so  state  in  response  to 
an  inquiry,  and  the  petition  might  be  then  completed 
and  forwarded,  with  the  foreknowledge  that  it  would 
be  favorably  entertained. 

b.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Russian  Government 
should,  in  accordance  with  its  semi-official  declara 
tion,  refuse  to  accept  the  petition,  its  decision  would 
be  the  same,  whether  the  petition  should  be  sent  for 
ward  in  the  first  instance,  or  the  Russian  Government 
sounded  by  a  letter  of  inquiry. 

A  decision  by  the  Russian  Government  unfavor 
able  to  the  petition  would  manifest  itself  most  likely 
by  a  return  of  the  document,  if  it  should  be  sent  in 
the  first  instance.  It  would  then  become  an  historical 
document.  In  its  then  form  its  value  as  an  historical 
document  would  be  greatly  lessened  by  the  fact  that 
it  was  fragmentary  and  incomplete;  whereas,  when 
completed,  as  originally  contemplated,  even  though 
it  might  be  refused  by  the  Russian  Government,  it 
would  remain  in  the  archives  of  our  Government  as 
an  enduring  testimony  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Amer 
ican  people  on  the  subject  of  Religious  Liberty. 

3.  Finally,  if  Russia  should  decide  to  receive  the 
petition,  it  would  so  indicate  in  reply  to  a  letter  of 
inquiry.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  should  decide  not 
to  receive  it,  the  mere  physical  transmission  of  it 
could  accomplish  no  good  result.  On  the  other  hand, 
to  send  it  in  the  face  of  a  semi-official  declaration 
that  it  would  be  unwelcome  might  incense  the  Rus 
sian  Government,  and  thus  operate  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  Jews  in  Russia.  In  short,  all  the  evil  of  the 
situation  might  be  avoided  and  all  the  good  achieved 
by  a  letter  of  inquiry,  in  which  should  be  incorpo 
rated  a  sufficient  description  of  the  petition  to  make 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  205 

its  import  clear,  together  with  a  statement  regarding 
the  number  and  character  of  the  signers  thereto. 

On  our  way  to  Oyster  Bay,  I  had  stated  to  Messrs. 
Levi  and  Straus,  that  in  my  opinion,  the  petition 
having  heen  cabled  and  made  known  to  the  whole 
world,  it  practically  mattered  very  little  whether  the 
Russian  Government  would  receive  it  or  not.  The 
real  import  of  the  petition  would  have  been  accom 
plished.  I  had  also  suggested  that  in  lieu  of  a  de 
scription  of  the  contents  of  the  petition,  the  petition 
itself  should  be  incorporated  in  the  letter,  if  one  be 
sent.  Dr.  Shaw,  curiously  enough,  although  not  hav 
ing  heard  my  ideas  in  this  regard,  made  the  same 
suggestions  to  the  President. 

The  President  finally  adopted  Dr.  Shaw's  sugges 
tion,  as  well  as  those  which  we  had  made.  When 
this  conclusion  was  reached  he  proceeded  at  once 
to  frame  a  letter  of  instructions  to  Mr.  Riddle,  the 
American  Charge  d' Affairs  at  St.  Petersburg.  He 
used  as  the  basis  thereof  a  tentative  draft  of  instruc 
tions  which  had  been  previously  prepared  by  Secre 
tary  Hay,  who,  it  appeared,  was  of  the  opinion,  prior 
to  our  visit  to  Sagamore  Hill,  that  the  petition  should 
not  be  forwarded  to  Russia  in  the  first  instance. 

President  Roosevelt  invited  us  to  make  suggestions 
while  he  was  preparing  the  draft  of  instructions  to 
Riddle,  which,  of  course,  were  freely  given. 

As  Secretary  Hay's  draft  did  not  include  a  copy 
of  the  petition,  it  had  to  be  considerably  modified. 
A  portion,  however,  of  the  original  text  was  em 
ployed,  to  which  was  pinned  a  printed  copy  of  the 
petition,  and  President  Roosevelt  completed  the  let 
ter  in  his  own  handwriting. 


206  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 


l"o  H<»  Imperial  Mvjt-ifty  Ih*  Tzar       The  crael  outrage*  perpetrated  at 

Kischmeff  Junng  Easter  o(  190).  have  excited  borror  and  rcpribalioo  throughout  the 
World  T'ntil  yum  Majesty  gave  special  and  personal  direct-on',.  Mi*  local  authorities 
failed  to  maintain  order  or  suppress  the  rioting 

The  victjoiB  were  Jkws  aod  the  msault  was  the  resuH  of  '«c«?  ar><l  religious  prejudice. 

The  rioters  violated  the  l»w»  of  Rossi*. 

The  local  officials  were  derelict  in  the  performance  of  iheir  jut/ 

The  Jews  were  the  victims  of  indefensible  lawlessness 

These  facts  »re  trade  plain  by  ihe  official  reports  of.  and  by  the  official  acts  fol 
lowing  the  riot 

Under  ordinary  conditions  the  awful  calamity  would  be  deplored  without  -undue* 
fear  of  a  recurrence.  814  such  is  not  the  case  in  the  present  instance.  Your  petitioners 
are  advised  that  mi  (lions  J>f  Jews — Russian  subjects — dwelling  in  Southwestern  Russia, 
are  in  constant  dread  of  fresh  outbreaks.  They  feel  that  ignorance,  superstition  and 
bigotry,  as  exemplified  by  ihe  rioters,  are  ever  ready  to  persecute  them  ;  that  the  local 
officials,  unless  thereunto  specially  admonished,  am  not  be  retied  on  at  strenuous 
protectors  of  their  peace  and  security ;  that  a  public  sentiment  of  hostility  has  been 
engendered  against  them,  and  hangs  over  thetn  as  4  continuing  menace. 

Even  if  it  be  conceded  that  these  fear»  are  to  some  extent  exaggerated,  it  U 
unquestionably  true  tliatthey  exist,  that  they  art  uot  groundless,  and  that  they  produce 
effects  of  gre«t  importance: 

The  westward  migration  of  Russiau  Jews,  which  hai  proceeded  for  over  twenty 
years,  is  being  stimulated  by  these  fears,  and  already  that  movement  has  become  so  great 
as  to  overshadow  in  magnitude  the  expulsion  of  the  Jrw«  fr6m  Spain  and  to  rank  »ith 
the  Exodus  from  Egypt, 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  207 


fc, 


, 

r  i04VH>vw< 


(Vlu^+l*^<>-t^\. 


x«  cr 


'> 


<tes*S^?     ~Z 


208 


THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 


/ 


lssC&£       -^-e-      XXJP  oa-*v£e-*< 

^c^5&^_     ^  -^ 

re    c^»    ^^« 


The  transmission  of  it  to  Secretary  Hay  at  Wash 
ington  was  entrusted  to  Hon.  Oscar  S.  Straus,  who 
delivered  it  the  following  morning  at  the  State  De 
partment,  where  Secretary  Hay  signed  the  original 
rough  draft. 

Before  it  was  sent  to  Secretary  Hay,  President 
Roosevelt  graciously  agreed,  upon  my  suggestion,  to 
give  the  original  draft  to  Mr.  Levi,  as  President  of 
the  B'nai  B'rith,  to  be  kept  among  the  archives  of 
the  Order  as  an  historical  souvenir.  After  the  de 
livery  of  the  document  to  Secretary  Hay  and  the 
signing  of  the  same  by  him,  a  copy  was  made  to  be 
kept  in  the  State  Department,  and  the  original  sent 
to  Mr.  Levi  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  Straus. 


LEO  N.  LEVI 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  I.  O.  B.  B. 
1900-1904 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  209 

As  is  well  known,  the  petition  was  not  received, 
and  the  action  of  the  Russian  Government  is  set 
forth  in  a  letter  to  me  from  Secretary  Hay,  reading 
as  follows: 

Department  of  State. 
Washington,  July  17,  1903. 
Sir: 

I  am  directed  by  the  President  to  acquaint  you  that 
this  Department  is  informed  by  the  American  Em 
bassy  in  St.  Petersburg  that  the  Imperial  Govern 
ment  of  Russia  has  declined  to  receive  or  consider 
the  petition  in  relation  to  the  condition  of  the  Jews 
in  Russia,  which  was  addressed  to  His  Majesty,  the 
Emperor,  by  a  large  number  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  which  this  Department,  by  direction  of 
the  President  and  at  your  request,  undertook  (to 
transmit  to  its  high  destination. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

JOHN  HAY. 
HON.  SIMON  WOLF, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

This  completed  the  diplomatic  features  of  the  in 
cident.  Nothing  remained  except  to  appropriately 
lodge  the  petition  in  the  State  Department  at  Wash 
ington. 

After  the  refusal  of  the  Russian  Government  to 
receive  the  petition,  Mr.  Leo  N.  Levi,  as  President  of 
the  Order,  was  requested  by  the  Associated  Press,  as 
well  as  many  other  newspapers,  to  make  a  statement, 
in  response  to  which  he  gave  out  the  following,  which 
for  the  sake  of  history  and  to  complete  my  narration 
of  this  important  transaction,  I  quote  herewith : 


210  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

The  answer  made  by  Russia  to  Secretary  Hay's 
note  was  not  a  surprise  to  me.  While,  of  course,  it 
was  within  the  range  of  possibility  that  the  Tsar  and 
his  Ministers  would  be  moved  by  considerations  of 
humanity  and  expediency  to  courteously  receive  a 
petition  from  the  American  people,  it  was  well  un 
derstood  that  the  probabilities  were  all  the  other 
way.  The  movement,  however,  has  had  all  the  good 
effects  that  were  in  contemplation,  and  even  more. 
It  has  enabled  the  American  people  and  the  Govern 
ment  to  make  an  enduring  record  of  their  views  on 
the  Kishineff  horror.  It  has  brought  the  emphatic 
expression  of  those  views  home,  not  only  to  the  peo 
ple  of  Russia,  but  to  the  Russian  Emperor  and  his 
Ministers.  They  have  become  acquainted  with  the 
contents  of  the  petition,  not  only  by  seeing  it  in  the 
press,  but  also  because  its  full  text  was  communi 
cated  in  the  note  which  asked  if  the  original  would 
be  received. 

The  petition  being  now  an  official  document,  will 
be  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  United  States, 
and  will  forever  testify  to  the  lofty  humanity  of  the 
people  which  is  so  splendidly  represented  by  the 
signers,  and  of  the  President  and  his  official  advisers. 

There,  too,  it  will  remain  as  a  witness  that  the 
friendship  of  Russia  for  the  United  States  was  not 
strong  enough  to  permit  a  respectful  appeal  for  re 
ligious  liberty,  made  by  citizens  of  this  country. 

I  am  convinced,  too,  that  the  influence  in  Russia 
of  the  petition,  and  of  the  agitation  which  preceded 
it,  has  been  powerful  and  good. 

The  number  and  character  of  the  signatures  to  the 
petition  stamp  it  as  a  convincing  expression  of  the 
religious  tolerance  and  sympathy  of  the  American 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  211 

people.  It  is  doubtful  if  there  has  ever  been  in  this 
country  such  a  representative  written  expression  of 
opinion.  The  people,  without  regard  to  racial,  relig 
ious  or  political  affiliations,  have  stood  behind  the 
President  in  his  manly  and  humane  activity. 

The  precise  method  of  conveying  the  petition  was 
never  regarded  by  us  as  of  controlling  importance, 
and  when  Russia  indicated,  semi-officially,  that  it 
would  be  unacceptable,  we  deemed  it  best  for  the 
interests  of  this  country  and  of  the  Jews  in  Russia 
to  avoid  a  course  that  would  produce  unnecessary 
irritation.  It  was,  therefore,  that  we,  upon  our  own 
initiative,  and  without  any  suggestion  whatsoever, 
besought  President  Roosevelt  to  alter  his  decision  to 
send  the  signed  petition,  and  to  transmit  its  text  in 
stead.  I  can  not  be  too  emphatic  in  declaring  that 
at  no  time  has  there  been  any  disposition  on  the 
President's  part  to  change  the  original  plan.  Every 
step  taken  was  most  satisfactory  to  us,  and  in  ac 
cordance  with  our  requests. 

It  now  remains  to  get  in  all  the  petitions  which 
are  in  circulation,  bind  them  up,  and  deposit  the 
bound  volumes  in  the  State  Department.  I  have 
called  for  the  return  of  all  that  are  not  yet  in. 

When  the  petitions  began  to  come  in  from  different 
sections  of  the  country,  with  the  signatures  of  repre 
sentative  citizens  of  all  religious  affiliations,  a  corps 
of  clerks  was  set  at  work  copying  and  analyzing  the 
signatures.  The  loose  sheets  of  the  petition,  contain 
ing  nearly  thirteen  thousand  names,  were  bound  in 
polished  levant,  placed  in  a  specially  prepared  ebony 
case,  along  with  a  separate  volume  containing  a  brief 
history  of  the  petition,  and  an  analysis,  classification 


212  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

and  list  of  the  signatures  thereto.  The  case  and  its 
contents  were  transmitted  to  me,  and  I  delivered  the 
same  personally  to  Secretary  Hay,  with  the  following 
letter: 

October  5,  1903. 
Hon.  John  Hay, 

Secretary  of  State, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Sir: 

On  July  14,  1903,  by  direction  of  the  President,  the 
loose  sheets  of  the  so-called  "Kishineff  Petition"  were 
delivered  to  him,  to  be  transmitted  to  St.  Petersburg 
or  placed  among  the  archives  of  our  own  State 
Department,  as  subsequent  developments  might  de 
termine.  At  the  same  time,  the  President  entrusted 
to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  B'nai  B'rith  the  custody  of  the  loose  sheets, 
with  permission  to  have  them  bound  in  a  suitable 
volume.  The  Committee  has  performed  the  duty 
thus  imposed,  and  which  it  welcomed  as  an  honor 
able  privilege.  The  volume  will  be  delivered  to  you, 
along  with  this  communication,  by  Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
a  member  of  the  Committee. 

For  all  time  to  come,  it  will  testify  to  the  love  of 
Justice,  Humanity,  and  Liberty  which  moved  the 
President  to  give  it  countenance  and  its  signers  to 
father  it.  It  stands  as  the  verdict  of  the  whole  peo 
ple  condemning  the  denial  of  Religious  Liberty,  and 
upholding  the  President  in  asserting  that  condemna 
tion.  If  it  be  without  precedent,  it  is  the  more  pre 
cious  for  becoming  one.  Civilization  made  a  distinct 
and  notable  advance  when  a  Great  Nation  of  Eighty 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  213 

Millions  of  People,  speaking  not  only  through  its 
official  head,  but  also  through  its  most  representative 
citizens  in  their  individual  capacities,  served  notice 
on  the  World  that  those  who  are  made  to  suffer 
martyrdom  for  conscience's  sake,  wherever  they  may 
abide,  have  friends  and  sympathizers  in  this  country. 
Such  an  example  will  not  be  lost.  The  oppressor 
will  hereafter  pause  before  he  strikes,  and  his  victim 
will  be  saved  from  utter  despair  by  the  conscious 
ness  that  the  voice  of  humanity  will  be  raised  in  his 
behalf. 

In  this  view,  the  services  rendered  by  the  Presi 
dent,  his  advisers  and  the  people  generally,  are  not 
to  be  measured  by  the  benefits  conferred  upon  the 
Jews  alone.  This  is  one  of  the  oft-recurring  cases  in 
which  the  Jews,  by  their  misfortunes,  have  led  the 
world  to  a  just  appreciation  of  the  truths  of  which 
they  are  the  devoted  missionaries. 

In  every  part  of  the  world  where  Jews  are  to  be 
found  there  is  thanksgiving  because  the  President 
and  you  and  the  entire  American  people  have  cham 
pioned  the  cause  of  the  oppressed.  Everywhere  ad 
miration  has  been  excited,  and  in  this  country  the 
people  are  proud  of  the  courageous  humanity  which 
has  been  displayed. 

In  the  gratitude,  admiration  and  pride  which  pre 
vail,  we  earnestly  participate;  more  earnestly  per 
haps  than  others  because  we  so  well  know  that  the 
President  from  the  beginning  was  governed  solely 
by  the  desire  to  benefit  the  suffering  Jews,  and  that 
every  step  taken  had  that  object  in  view. 

In  delivering  the  petition  into  your  hands,  we 
avail  ourselves  of  the  opportunity  to  make  this 


214  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

record  of  our  profoundly  grateful  appreciation.     I 
am,  Sir, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

LEO  N.  LEVI, 

President  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  I.  O.  B.  B. 

Herewith  I  also  quote  Secretary  Hay's  letter  in 
acknowledgement  of  the  above  letter  and  the  peti 
tion: 

Washington,  October  31,  1903. 
Leo  N.  Levi,  Esquire, 

President  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith, 

723  Lexington  Avenue,  New  York  City. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

I  have  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Honorable 
Simon  Wolf,  your  letter  of  the  5th  of  October.  He 
has  also  delivered  to  me  the  bound  copy  of  the 
Kishineff  Petition. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  accept  the  charge  of  this 
important  and  significant  document  and  assign  it  a 
place  in  the  archives  of  the  Department  of  State. 

Although  this  copy  of  your  petition  did  not  reach 
the  high  destination  for  which  it  was  intended,  its 
words  have  attained  a  world-wide  publicity,  and 
have  found  a  lodgment  in  many  thousands  of  minds. 
This  petition  will  be  always  memorable,  not  only  for 
what  it  contains,  but  also  for  the  number  and  weight 
of  the  signatures  attached  to  it,  embracing  some  of 
the  most  eminent  names  of  our  generation,  of  men 
renowned  for  intelligence,  philanthropy  and  public 
spirit.  In  future,  when  the  students  of  history  come 
to  peruse  this  document,  they  will  wonder  how  the 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  215 

petitioners,  moved  to  profound  indignation  by  in 
tolerable  wrongs  perpetrated  on  the  innocent  and 
helpless,  should  have  expressed  themselves  in  lan 
guage  so  earnest  and  eloquent  and  yet  so  dignified, 
so  moderate  and  so  decorous.  It  is  a  valuable  addi 
tion  to  public  literature,  and  it  will  be  sacredly  cher 
ished  among  the  treasures  of  this  Department.  I 
am,  Sir, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

JOHN  HAY* 

To  me  personally  on  my  delivery  to  him  of  the 
above-named  document  and  letter,  Secretary  Hay 
stated,  "The  archives  of  our  Government  contain 
nothing  more  precious,  and  the  Jews  of  the  world 
should  feel  profoundly  grateful  for  this  great  and 
enduring  record."  To  me  personally,  the  Kishineff 
Petition  has  greater  value  than  any  other  act  of  my 
life. 

First,  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  wrote 
to  me:  "I  thank  you  for  the  admirable  good  sense 
you  have  shown  in  this  important  transaction,  for 
without  it  we  could  never  have  succeeded," — and 
accompanying  this  letter,  the  President  sent  me  his 
autographed  photograph,  which  I  prize  highly. 

Second,  the  generous  words  of  President  Levi: 
"Without  your  aid  and  good  sense  we  could  never 
have  accomplished  anything.  From  start  to  finish 
you  did  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time  and  never 
made  a  mistake.  The  Order  and  the  Jews  of  the 
world  owe  you  an  eternal  debt  of  gratitude." 

A  curious  incident  occurred  years  after,  when  the 
Gridiron  Club  had  their  annual  dinner  at  Willard's 
Hotel  in  this  city.  One  of  the  skits  was — a  Russian 


216  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

appeared  in  the  room,  bearing  a  petition  and  asked 
for  Simon  Wolf,  and  the  president  of  the  club 
promptly  replied,  "Mr.  Wolf  does  not  receive  peti 
tions  from  Russia."  President  Roosevelt  who  was 
present,  enjoyed  it  heartily. 

At  the  luncheon  at  Oyster  Bay  above  referred  to, 
the  characteristics  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  were  made 
doubly  manifest  by  an  incident  in  connection  with 
the  Alaska  Boundary  question,  which  was  then  under 
discussion  and  consideration.  The  President  took  us 
into  his  library  and  told  the  English  gentleman  that 
there  would  be  no  arbitration  on  that  question.  As 
long  as  he  was  President  of  the  United  States,  the 
position  taken  by  our  Government  would  be  main 
tained  to  its  fullest  extent.  And  he  brought  down 
his  fist  with  the  energy,  reinforced  by  that  spirit  of 
patriotism  which  has  ever  marked  his  career. 

Just  prior  to  Count  Cassini's  departure  from  the 
United  States  for  Russia,  I  sent  him  a  letter,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  copy.  I  submitted  this  to  John 
Hay,  who  fully  approved  it  and  asked  me  for  a  copy 
to  show  to  the  President,  to  see  what  he  thought  of 
it,  and  which  of  course  I  gave  him: 

To  His  Excellency, 
Count  Cassini. 
Sir: 

You  are  about  returning  to  the  Empire  of  Russia. 
You  will  have  to  give  an  account  of  the  public  senti 
ment  of  this  country  on  the  late  outrages  against 
the  Jews  of  Kishineff.  Are  you  fully  aware  that 
although  the  Government  of  the  United  States  could 
not  officially  voice  that  sentiment,  yet  it  has  no  doubt 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  217 

of  the  existence,  and  is  morally  bound  to  respect 
and  enforce  it? 

Therefore  if  the  declaration  so  broadly  made  by 
you,  that  Russia  has  been  the  friend  of  the  United 
States,  and  desires  a  continuance,  then  it  is  high  time 
to  evidence  that  friendship  by  deeds  and  not  empty 
phrases. 

You  know,  so  does  the  Government  you  represent 
know,  that  the  restrictions  imposed,  and  the  inhu 
manities  practised  on  the  Russian  subjects  of  Jewish 
faith,  drive  every  year  from  thirty  to  forty  thousand 
of  them  to  the  United  States.  This  steady  stream 
will  now,  owing  to  the  late  outrages,  be  increased, 
and  every  new  incomer  will  increase  the  hatred 
against  Russia.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  have  five 
millions  of  Russian  subjects  of  Jewish  faith  loyal, 
patriotic  Russians  by  giving  them  equal  rights,  than 
to  incur  the  enmity  of  eighty  millions  of  free  and 
sympathetic  American  citizens? 

Now  you  can  aid  by  the  usages  and  precedents  of 
diplomacy,  temporize  and  evade  the  inevitable,  you 
will  precipitate  into  the  halls  of  Congress  and  State 
Legislatures,  the  intemperate  scheming  politicians, 
and  the  Government  of  the  people,  representative  of 
its  will  and  powers,  will  finally  yield  to  votes,  and 
the  so-called  traditional  friendship  will  be  shattered, 
and  the  enemies  of  Russia  will  reap  the  benefits — is 
this  wise?  Is  it  diplomacy  or  statesmanship? 

To  have  your  Government  prove  its  sincerity  of 
friendship,  let  it  at  once  take  advantage  of  the  over 
whelming  sentiment  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  and  negotiate  a  new  Treaty  with  our  Govern 
ment,  wherein  the  recognition  of  the  American  pass 
port  in  Russia  shall  be  guaranteed  irrespective  of 


218  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

race  or  creed,  and  thus  allay  by  peaceable  means, 
one  of  the  most  aggravating  and  annoying  differ 
ences  between  the  two  great  and  friendly  powers. 

You  are  well  versed  in  all  the  arts  of  diplomacy 
and  know,  as  I  know,  the  secret  feelings  of  our  Gov 
ernment  on  these  important  questions  that  now  en 
danger  both  countries.  They  can  not  be  relegated  by 
newspaper  interviews,  nor  by  bulletins  made  to  de 
ceive  and  obscure.  The  people  of  the  United  States 
are  slow  to  anger,  but  when  once  aroused,  they  not 
only  think  freely,  but  they  will  act  so.  As  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  I  love  and  revere  it,  and  will 
not  do  any  act  that  will  endanger  its  perpetuity  or 
prosperity,  but  silence  now  would  be  cowardice. 
Therefore  in  a  spirit  of  the  broadest  and  most  gen 
erous  solicitude,  do  I  speak  these  words  of  admoni 
tion,  in  the  hope  that  you  have  profited  by  your 
enforced  stay,  and  give  to  those  who  govern  in 
Russia,  a  faithful  insight  into  the  sea  of  American 
public  opinion,  which  will  sweep  onward,  and  if 
needs  be,  upward,  wrecking  friendships  and  admin 
istrations,  unless  its  wishes  and  mandates  are  heed 
ed,  obeyed  and  enforced.  Do  not  forget  that  Ire 
land's  cause  is  fought  out  in  the  United  States.  In 
this  same  spirit,  the  exiled  Russian  Jews  are  the 
storm  petrels  of  ultimate  revolution  in  Russia.  Why 
not  free  them  now  and  prevent  that  revolutionary 
step?  I  am,  Sir, 

Your  very  obedient  servant, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

NOTE  :  My  prophecy  was  in  every  way  realized  by 
the  action  of  Congress,  and  the  subsequent  action  of 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  219 

President  Taft.    No  less  remarkable  is  my  statement 
as  to  the  coming  revolution  in  Russia. 

The  following  is  a  synopsis  of  my  remarks  in  rela 
tion  to  this  matter  at  the  Jewish  Ghautauqua  held 
in  Buffalo,  New  York,  in  January,  1905: 

How  well  Russia  is  learning  the  truth  of  that  an 
cient  axiom,  "Right  is  right,  but  wrong  is  no  man's 
right." 

History  is  certainly  being  repeated  in  that  un 
happy  country.  Today  the  first  note  of  revolution 
has  been  sounded.  Before  the  uproar  ceases  the 
whole  world  will  hear  the  strains  of  a  new  national 
air.  Not  only  does  the  Czar  know  this,  but  so  do  his 
ministers,  the  real  rulers  of  the  country.  That  the 
political  situation  has  reached  a  crisis,  is  known  to 
all  who  are  in  the  least  familiar  with  the  popular 
feeling  in  Russia.  When  Port  Arthur  fell  the  in- 
competency  and  guilt  of  the  present  dynasty  was 
exposed  to  the  world.  The  people  are  clamoring  for 
a  cessation  of  the  needless  war  in  the  Far  East.  The 
entire  populace  of  Russia  demands  that  the  reign 
of  absolute  militarism  end. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  wish  that  any  harm  shall  be 
fall  Russia,  but  there  is  a  very  turbulent  bit  of  sea 
for  the  ship  of  state  to  navigate  through  the  near 
future.  I  firmly  believe  that  the  French  revolution 
is  about  to  be  repeated  in  Russia.  The  only  differ 
ence  between  the  revolution  to  take  place  and  the 
one  which  has  occurred  is  that  this  time  the  brains, 
intelligence  and  education  are  with  the  people. 
Among  those  who  fought  in  the  streets  of  St.  Peters 
burg  today  were  many  graduates  of  the  best  Russian 
universities.  In  the  governmental  forces  were  offi 
cers  who  could  not  even  write. 


220  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

There  is  little  doubt  regarding  the  outcome  of  such 
an  affair,  for  the  people  must  win. 

The  present  condition  in  Russia  proves  conclu 
sively  that  church  and  government  can  not  be  com 
bined.  In  a  large  country  petty  religious  discrimina 
tions  are  not  practicable.  They  not  only  retard 
progress,  but  they  breed  the  bitterest  of  feelings. 
Take  for  instance  that  atrocious  outrage,  the  Kishi- 
neff  massacre.  Every  one  knows  that  those  murders 
were  instigated  by  the  church  influences  in  the  state. 
In  the  end  the  whole  thing  comes  down  to  the  ag 
grandizement  of  a  few  men  who  hunger  for  power. 

The  Kishineff  massacre  marked  an  epoch  for  Rus 
sia.  Since  then  the  country  has  known  nothing  save 
misfortune.  Not  a  victory  have  the  Russian  arms 
won  in  the  Far  East,  while  at  home  the  political 
tremors  have  shaken  the  very  foundations  of  the 
Czar's  throne. 

It  is  my  belief  that  the  Czar  would  be  liberal  if 
he  had  his  way.  He  is  sadly  handicapped,  however, 
by  his  ministers.  He  is  not  a  master.  Only  in  name 
is  he  the  ruler  of  all  the  Russias. 

An  excuse  of  the  government  for  the  cruelty  to 
ward  the  Jews  is  the  pretended  doubt  entertained 
regarding  their  loyalty.  There  is  no  better  soldier 
nor  more  loyal  citizen  in  Russia  today  than  the  Jew. 
And  this  despite  the  fact  that  a  Jew  can  not  receive 
an  honor  of  any  kind  from  the  government.  General 
Skobeloff,  the  greatest  general  Russia  ever  had,  pub 
licly  complimented  a  Jewish  soldier  at  Plevna  for 
gallantry  in  action,  but  because  of  the  civil  law  could 
not  bestow  any  military  honors  upon  him.  That  is 
a  fair  sample  of  the  treatment  Jews  receive  in  Rus- 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  221 

sia.  They  can  die  for  the  country,  but  they  can  not 
live  for  her. 

The  Jews  are  not  the  only  people  who  have  been 
used  unfairly  in  Russia.  All  of  the  common  citizens 
have  had  to  partially  undergo  the  same  treatment. 
These  are  the  causes  which  led  up  to  the  revolution, 
which  was  commenced  today  in  St.  Petersburg. 

If  the  government  had  been  more  liberal  the  situ 
ation  might  have  been  avoided.  Of  course,  some  of 
the  conditions  which  confront  the  government  were 
produced  by  economic  and  military  circumstances. 
The  losses  and  defeats  in  the  Far  East  where  the 
people  have  lost  loved  ones,  have  stirred  the  com 
mon  heart.  More  especially  in  the  universities  have 
these  matters  been  discussed  and  a  plan  of  action 
mapped  out.  The  fact  is  that  the  brains  of  the  coun 
try  were  determining  this  matter  while  the  brute 
strength  was  in  the  East  losing  battles. 

On  the  death  of  Secretary  John  Hay,  I  wrote  a  let 
ter  to  the  President,  as  follows: 

Washington,  July  6,  1905. 
The  President,  Washington,  D.  G. 

The  death  of  your  and  our  great  Secretary  of 
State,  Mr.  John  Hay,  has  left  a  void  which  it  is  diffi 
cult  to  fill,  and  the  Board  of  Delegates  on  Civil 
Rights  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congrega 
tions,  and  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  feel 
the  loss  most  keenly,  as  every  reasonable  request  on 
the  part  of  our  committees  always  received  a  prompt 
and  satisfactory  response,  and  while  we  have  always 
been  certain  and  assured  of  your  active  co-operation 
and  sympathy,  nevertheless  we  have  felt  that  it  was 
in  the  carrying  out  of  your  wise  and  judicious  ideas 


222  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

that  results  could  be  expected.  Mr.  Hay,  while  jeal 
ously  guarding  the  precedents  and  while  never  ob 
livious  of  the  courtesy  due  to  other  nations,  was 
nevertheless  assertive  in  that  which  concerned  the 
welfare  of  our  own  country,  and  every  nationality 
and  creed  of  the^  component  part  of  our  citizen 
ship  was  endeared  to  him,  and  he  was  in  close  and 
sympathetic  touch  with  all  that  was  humane  and 
elevating;  thus  his  Roumanian  note,  his  address  at 
the  time  of  the  Kishineff  Petition  and  his  subsequent 
action  thereon;  his  correspondence  and  active  serv 
ice  in  the  American  passport  question  with  Russia, 
all  indicated  an  Americanism  broad,  liberal  and 
progressive,  and  emphasized  in  unmistakable  words 
and  acts  that  the  American  Government  represents 
the  highest  form  of  modern  civilization  and  is  at  all 
times  ready  to  vindicate  the  humanities.  Therefore, 
Mr.  President,  permit  me  as  the  Chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Delegates,  and  as  resident  representative 
of  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  to  tender 
to  you  and  through  you  to  the  American  people,  our 
sincere,  loyal  and  heartfelt  sympathy,  assuring  you 
that  your  great  name  and  the  name  of  your  great 
Secretary  of  State  are  enshrined  in  our  hearts  in 
loving  affection  and  appreciation  for  all  that  you 
have  done  for  our  stricken  co-religionists  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  that  it  will  be  our  endeavor  in  the 
future  as  in  the  past  to  show  our  deathless  devotion 
to  the  great  Republic  and  its  beneficent  institutions, 
not  as  Jews  but  as  American  citizens  in  active  and 
sincere  concord  along  all  lines  for  which  the  Repub 
lic  stands  sponsor. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 


JOHN  HAY 
SECRETARY  OF  STATE 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  223 

And  at  the  meeting  of  the  Jewish  Ghautauqua 
Society,  after  the  death  of  John  Hay,  I  pronounced 
the  following  eulogy,  which  being  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  President,  he  expressed  great  satis 
faction,  and  again  showed  his  usual  good  feeling  for 
my  effort: 

TRIBUTE  TO  JOHN  HAY. 

Goethe  said  he  was  noble,  he  was  pure,  he  was 
philanthropic,  which  represents  and  personifies  John 
Hay.  In  letters  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  lately  pub 
lished  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  among  other  things, 
he  describes  a  visit  to  Washington,  during  the  early 
part  of  the  Civil  War,  how  one  evening  he  attended 
a  reception  at  the  home  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  and  among  many  nota 
ble  striking  personages,  the  young  Secretary  to  the 
President  was  particularly  noticeable.  (In  a  foot 
note  by  the  editor  of  the  Atlantic,  it  states  that  Mr. 
Emerson  did  not  know  the  name  of  the  young  Sec 
retary,  but  that  undoubtedly  it  must  have  been  John 
Hay),  and  what  appealed  to  the  Concord  philoso 
pher  has  appealed  to  all  men  at  home  and  abroad 
who  came  in  touch  with  John  Hay.  He  was,  in  my 
opinion,  the  highest  developed  type  of  ideal  Ameri 
canism,  pure  in  thought  and  yet  not  a  Puritan; 
Christian  in  faith  and  in  no  wise  sectarian;  American 
in  diplomacy  and  patriotism,  and  yet  cosmopolitan. 
He  typified  and  personified  all  that  was  lovable  in 
man  and  all  that  was  sympathetic,  human  and  just 
in  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

Persecution,  bigotry,  and  intolerance  were  to  him 
the  outcome  of  a  benighted  age,  and  every  fibre  of 
his  being  revolted  against  governments  and  indi- 


224  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

viduals  that  practised  them.  He  was  the  ideal  Amer 
ican,  "sans  peur,  sans  reproche."  His  state  papers 
will  rank  with  the  best  of  any  age,  and  his  diplomacy 
will  be  used  as  a  part  of  the  curriculum  in  the 
schools  and  universities.  Pure  in  thought,  choice 
in  diction,  virile  in  execution,  he  personified  the  best 
traditions  and  exemplified  the  evolution  of  modern 
achievements. 

Few  names  in  the  Walhalla  of  Fame  will  eclipse 
his.  His  broad  Catholic  spirit  dominated  and  embel 
lished  every  subject  he  touched.  To  him  nationality 
and  creed  were  but  links  in  the  great  chain  of  his 
brotherly  affection,  and  while  a  worshipping  Chris 
tian,  he  reverenced  the  Jew  and  bore  loving  tribute 
to  the  Mohammedan. 

The  United  States  has  been  most  fortunate  that  at 
every  crucial  moment  of  its  history  men  have  come 
to  the  fore  that  have  grasped  the  opportunity,  as 
sumed  the  responsibility,  and  developed  success  for 
the  glory  and  benefit,  not  only  the  republic,  but  of 
mankind  at  large,  and  among  these  notable  figures, 
there  is  prominent  and  pre-eminent  these  words  and 
deeds  of  John  Hay.  He  was  deeply  religious,  out  of 
which  sprang  the  consciousness  of  duty  and  right 
eousness.  With  him  the  Golden  Rule  was  not  a 
phrase,  but  the  burning  bush,  from  whose  light  there 
was  reflected  love  of  and  for  his  fellowmen.  After 
an  acquaintance,  both  personally  and  officially,  of 
43  years,  I  am  proud  and  happy  to  say  that  I  have 
never  known  John  Hay  to  be  other  than  that  which 
he  personified  in  the  highest  sense.  Idealism,  sin 
cerity,  frank  and  manly  assertiveness,  and  yet  a  con 
servative  poise  that  entitled  him  to  the  esteem,  con 
fidence  and  love  of  all  men,  irrespective  of  faith  or 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  225 

creed.  There  was  nothing  austere,  nothing  cold  or 
frigid,  although  there  was  a  calmness  of  repose,  that 
at  times  was  mistaken  for  haughtiness.  He  surveyed 
from  heights  serene  and  placid,  those  possible  con 
tingencies  that  might  endanger  the  republic,  or  that 
could  bring  untold  blessings  upon  the  countless  mil 
lions  he  so  loyally  and  patriotically  represented. 

The  trusted,  confidant  and  loyal  supporter  of  three 
great  Presidents,  the  name  of  John  Hay  will  go  down 
to  the  ages  surpassed  by  none  and  equaled  by  few. 
The  remarkable  success  he  achieved  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  State  under  circumstances  most  trying  and 
difficult,  stamp  him  side  by  side  with  the  great  past- 
masters  of  diplomacy  and  statesmanship.  He  did 
not  use  the  arts  of  Machiavelli,  he  was  truthful. 
What  he  meant,  he  said,  and  what  he  said  he  was 
ready  to  vindicate  by  acts.  No  man  stands  higher 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon  world  than  he,  for  his  luminous 
mind  saw  through  the  clouds  of  diplomacy  and  wel 
comed  the  rising  sun  of  fraternal  good-will  between 
kindred  nations  and  that  which  was  just  and  right 
for  his  own  countrymen.  He  was  ready  to  extend 
and  maintain  justice  even  among  the  Chinese  and 
Japanese.  Thus  American  diplomacy  and  states 
manship  in  the  name  of  John  Hay  is  reverenced  and 
respected  in  the  Far  East,  for  it  was  John  Hay's 
great  efforts  in  the  direction  of  the  "open  door,"  of 
the  withdrawal  of  troops  after  the  Boxer  massacre, 
and  in  the  assertiveness  of  policy,  between  Russia 
and  China,  that  gave  the  world  a  new  development, 
and  made  the  name  of  the  United  States  stand  for 
all  that  is  just  and  right  in  diplomacy. 

Mr.  Hay,  as  I  have  said,  was  thoroughly  religious, 
and,  being  so,  he  was  conversant  as  few  men  are  with 


226  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

the  history  and  achievement  of  the  Jewish  people.  He 
had  the  highest  respect  and  reverence  for  their  litera 
ture,  philosophy  and  ethics,  and  he  told  me  time  and 
again  that  some  of  his  most  valued  and  esteemed 
friends  were  among  our  co-religionists,  such  men  as 
Mr.  Schiff  and  Mr.  Straus. 

Who  can  forget  the  glorious  words  spoken  by  him 
when  the  Kishineff  Petition  was  presented  to  him  at 
the  State  Department,  when  he  closed  the  memor 
able  interview  by  saying  "the  God  of  Israel  never 
sleeps  or  slumbers,"  saying  those  pathetic  words  with 
an  intensity  of  feeling  and  devoutness  that  brought 
tears  to  the  eyes  of  every  one  present.  And  again 
who  can  forget,  when  some  months  later  a  copy  of 
the  petition  was  filed  in  the  archives  of  the  State 
Department,  how  his  words  rang  out  clear  and  reso 
nant,  when  he  said:  "Although  this  copy  of  your 
petition  did  not  reach  the  high  destination  for  which 
it  was  intended,  its  words  have  attained  a  world-wide 
publicity,  and  have  found  a  lodgment  in  many  thou 
sands  of  minds.  This  petition  will  be  always  memor 
able,  not  only  for  what  it  contains,  but  also  for  the 
number  and  weight  of  the  signatures  attached  to  it, 
embracing  some  of  the  most  eminent  names  of  our 
generation  of  men  renowned  for  intelligence,  philan 
thropy  and  public  spirit.  In  future,  when  the  stu 
dents  of  history  come  to  peruse  this  document,  they 
will  wonder  how  the  petitioners,  moved  to  profound 
indignation  by  intolerable  wrongs  perpetrated  on  the 
innocent  and  helpless,  should  have  expressed  them 
selves  in  language  so  earnest  and  eloquent,  and  yet 
so  dignified,  so  moderate  and  so  decorous.  It  is  a 
valuable  addition  to  public  literature,  and  it  will 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  227 

be  sacredly  cherished  among  the  treasures  of  this 
Department." 

Not  only  officially,  but  personally,  there  was  no 
equivocation  on  his  part  as  to  his  feelings  or  utter 
detestation  at  the  outrages  practised  against  our  peo 
ple  in  Russia,  for  when  the  appeal  for  funds  was 
made,  John  Hay's  check  for  a  handsome  sum  was 
among  the  first  to  be  received  in  the  City  of  New 
York.  The  Roumanian  Note,  which  has  become  so 
famous,  and  which  stamped  him  not  only  as  a  great 
and  far-seeing  statesman  and  splendid  American,  but 
proved  his  friendship  and  good- will  for  our  people, 
for  who  can  ever  forget  those  electric  sentences,  "The 
teachings  of  history  and  the  experience  of  our  own 
nation  show  that  the  Jews  possess  in  a  high  degree 
the  mental  and  moral  qualifications  of  conscientious 
citizenship.  No  class  of  immigrants  is  more  wel 
come  to  our  shores,  when  coming  equipped  in  mind 
and  body  for  entrance  upon  the  struggle  for  bread, 
and  inspired  with  the  high  purpose  to  give  the  best 
service  of  heart  and  brain  to  the  land  they  adopt  of 
their  own  free  will. 

"The  United  States  offers  asylum  to  the  oppressed 
of  all  lands.  But  its  sympathy  with  them  in  no  wise 
impairs  its  just  liberty  and  right  to  weigh  the  acts 
of  the  oppressor  in  the  light  of  their  effects  upon 
this  country  and  to  judge  accordingly.  Whether  con 
sciously  and  of  purpose,  or  not,  these  helpless  people, 
burdened  and,  spurned  by  their  native  land,  are 
forced  by  the  sovereign  power  of  Roumania  upon 
the  charity  of  the  United  States.  This  Government 
can  not  be  a  tacit  party  to  such  international  wrong. 
It  is  constrained  to  protest  against  the  treatment  to 
which  the  Jews  of  Roumania  are  subjected,  not  alone 


228  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

because  it  has  unimpeachable  ground  to  remonstrate 
against  the  resultant  injury  to  itself,  but  in  the  name 
of  humanity.  The  United  States  may  not  authori 
tatively  appeal  to  the  stipulation  of  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin,  to  which  it  was  not  and  can  not  become  a 
signatory,  but  it  does  earnestly  appeal  to  the  princi 
ples  of  international  law  and  eternal  justice,  advo 
cating  the  broad  toleration  which  that  solemn  com 
pact  enjoins,  and  standing  ready  to  lend  its  moral 
support  to  the  fulfilment  thereof  by  its  co-signatories, 
for  the  act  of  Roumania  itself  has  effectively  joined 
the  United  States  to  them  as  an  interested  party  in 
this  regard." 

The  diplomatic  fossils  of  the  old  world  and  even 
some  of  the  new,  were  stunned  by  the  language  used 
by  the  great  Secretary  of  State.  It  was  a  new  doc 
trine  and  revealed  flights  of  genius  that  were  inspir 
ing  and  magnetic. 

So,  also,  in  the  American  passport  question  with 
Russia,  he  was  vigilant  and  assertive,  and  insofar 
there  has  not  been  accomplished  that  which  we  have 
a  right  as  American  citizens  to  expect  and  demand, 
no  criticism  can  justly  be  made  against  either  the 
Secretary  of  State  or  his  great  chief,  Theodore  Roose 
velt. 

Unfortunately  conditions  are  such  at  this  moment, 
with  a  great  international  court  convening  to  frame 
measures  of  peace  between  two  great  governments, 
that  any  statement  made  by  me  under  these  circum 
stances  might  prove  inimical  or  unfortunate,  there 
fore  we  must  wait  until  a  more  opportune  time  shall 
come  when  I  can  give  an  historical  resume,  not  only 
in  the  shape  of  official  and  personal  letters,  but  also 
give  conversations  had  with  Mr.  Hay  wherein  he  was 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  229 

outspoken,  emphatic,  nay,  almost  belligerent  in  his 
feelings  for  a  government  and  its  rulers  with  whom 
we  were  then  and  are  now  in  treaty  relations,  and 
yet  whose  promises  he  utterly  discounted  and  had  no 
faith  in  any  statement  made  by  their  representative 
accredited  to  our  country. 

In  paying  this  tribute  to  a  great  American  and 
statesman,  we  do  so  in  full  recognition  as  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  ever  conscious  that  our  duty  under 
all  circumstances  is  to  be  true,  patriotic  and  loyal  to 
this  great  Republic;  but  we  can  not  forget,  on  the 
contrary  we  should  ever  remember,  those  great  men 
who  in  the  hour  of  need  evidenced  their  humanity 
by  a  recognition  of  all  men  irrespective  of  faith. 
The  words  and  acts  in  behalf  of  Jewish  rights  po 
litically  as  well  as  personally  enunciated  and  em 
phasized  by  John  Hay,  will  live  in  history,  and  will 
in  the  course  of  time  be  constantly  used  as  a  text 
for  the  amelioration  and  uplifting  of  the  down-trod 
den  and  persecuted. 

John  Hay  did  not  wake  up  one  morning  to  find 
himself  famous;  his  was  a  steady  growth  and  d& 
velopment.  Thus,  when  Secretary  of  the  Legation, 
he  was  sent  to  Minister  Bigelow,  that  Minister  wrote 
to  Secretary  Seward,  "You  have  sent  me  a  most  ad 
mirable  Secretary,  a  man  of  remarkable  achievement 
and  good  sense."  He  displayed  the  same  quality  as 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  the  same  admirable  di 
plomacy  and  loyal  Americanism  while  Ambassador 
to  England.  His  treaties  with  that  country  strength 
ened  the  ties  between  these  two  great  nations,  and 
added  links  in  the  great  chain  of  brotherhood.  As 
a  poet,  as  a  writer,  as  an  orator,  Mr.  Hay  took  high 
rank.  His  diction  was  not  turgid,  his  rhetoric  was 


230  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

not  florid,  but  every  word  he  coined  was  pure  and 
undefiled  and  displayed  the  highest  sense,  and  was 
responsive  to  every  heart-beat.  He  had  learned  the 
wisdom  of  silence,  the  discipline  of  patience. 

In  honoring  the  memory  of  so  great  a  man,  we 
honor  ourselves,  and  prove  to  the  world  that  where 
the  opportunity  is  given  and  where  equal  rights  are 
conferred,  and  where  the  boon  of  free  conscience  is 
not  denied,  the  American  citizen  of  Jewish  faith 
vies  in  common  with  others  in  loyal  devotion  and 
honored  recognition  of  all  that  is  manly,  virtuous 
and  righteous  in  man,  and  will  transmit  to  future 
generations  the  priceless  legacy  left  us  by  John  Hay. 

After  Secretary  Hay's  death,  the  Rabbinical  Con 
ference  transmitted  to  me  a  beautiful  memorial  to 
be  presented  to  Mrs.  Hay,  which  she  received  with 
great  feeling,  and  expressed  her  sincere  satisfaction 
in  being  thus  honored,  wishing  not  only  the  confer 
ence,  but  all  those  affiliated  with  it,  prosperity  and 
future  usefulness. 

When  the  peace  conference  between  Russia  and 
Japan  was  held  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  the  holding  of 
which  was  due  largely  to  the  efforts  of  President 
Roosevelt,  I  wrote  the  following  letter  to  Count 
Witte,  the  Russian  representative  at  the  conference : 

Washington,  D.  C.,  August  3,  1905. 
M.  Witte,  St.  Regis  Hotel, 

New  York  City. 
Your  Excellency: 

I  beg  of  you  to  read  this  letter  carefully  and  to 
give  it  the  consideration  due  the  gravity  of  the  sub 
ject.  As  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Delegates  on  Civil 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  231 

Rights  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congrega 
tions,  I  deem  it  wise  and  proper  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  condition  of  our  co-religionists  in  Russia.  I 
am  well  aware  there  is  no  man  living  who  has  better 
information  or  a  wider  grasp  of  the  subject  than 
yourself.  I  am  also  aware  of  the  fact  that  with  your 
far-seeing  statesmanship  and  keen  intuition,  you 
have  for  many  years  seen  the  natural  trend  of  re 
strictive  laws  of  Russia  as  practiced  discriminately 
against  the  Jews,  and  therefore  as  a  loyal  son  of 
your  great  country,  a  faithful  subject  of  the  Emperor, 
and  as  a  man  who  unquestionably  loves  his  fellow- 
men,  I  am  sure  you  will  appreciate,  not  only  the 
motives  that  inspired  this  letter,  but  calmly  reflect 
on  the  merits,  if  it  has  any,  of  what  I  propose. 

I  am  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  history  of  Rus 
sia;  its  aggregation  of  different  nationalities;  the  fact 
of  the  Greek  Church  dominating  as  the  Government 
representative.  I  am  also  aware  of  the  economics, 
the  moral,  social  and  political  status  of  your  country, 
and  am  equally  aware  of  the  friendly  disposition 
that  the  Russian  Government  has  heretofore  shown 
on  and  in  behalf  of  the  unity  and  supremacy  of  the 
United  States — and  it  is  from  the  very  fact  of  this 
feeling  on  the  part  of  your  Government  that  I,  as  a 
sincere  and  devoted  American  citizen,  am  most  anx 
ious  to  bring  about  a  condition  in  Rusisa  that  will 
be  of  inestimable  and  everlasting  effect,  not  only  for 
the  Government  itself,  but  for  my  co-religionists. 
The  Jews  born  in  Russia  who  have  been  compelled 
to  come  to  this  country,  either  voluntarily  or  invol 
untarily,  have  proven,  and  are  proving  by  their 
splendid  citizenship  and  great  success,  that  they  are 
not,  as  men,  different  from  any  other  human  beings, 


232  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

but  that  when  given  a  chance  under  equal  conditions, 
they  prove  not  only  their  worth,  but  in  many  direc 
tions  their  superiority.  Therefore  if  the  unnatural 
restraints  were  thrown  off  and  the  Jews  of  Russia 
given  the  same  chance  for  life  and  happiness  that 
citizens  of  other  faiths  of  that  country  enjoy,  I  am 
absolutely  confident  that  the  Jewish  question  in  Rus 
sia  would  cease,  they  would  become  absorbed  and 
assimilated  as  they  are  in  this  country,  and  in 
England,  France  and  Italy,  and  instead  of  being  a 
menace,  they  would  become  a  help  and  strengthen 
every  element  of  the  nation's  prosperity.  Throw  the 
pale  open,  let  the  Jew  go  where  he  will  as  other  citi 
zens  do,  and  he  will  soon  become  merged,  and  in  do 
ing  this  the  State  will  not  violate  any  of  the  principles 
of  humanity  or  the  ethics  of  enlightenment,  on  the 
contrary,  it  will  strengthen  itself  and  win  from  the 
civilized  world  appreciation  and  lasting  friendship. 
Russia  at  this  juncture  needs  two  important  elements 
to  insure  its  future  prosperity  and  happiness;  money 
and  friends.  The  Jews  of  the  world  as  citizens  of 
their  respective  countries  control  much  of  the  first, 
and  would  make  a  magnificent  army  of  the  latter. 
There  is  no  use  disguising  the  fact  that,  in  the  United 
States  especially,  the  Jews  form  an  important  factor 
in  the  formation  of  public  opinion  and  in  the  control 
of  the  finances.  Count  Cassini  was  always  lamenting 
and  I  notice  has  again  expressed  his  astonishment 
why  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  not  more 
friendly,  ignoring  the  well-admitted  and  well-known 
fact,  that  a  large  number  of  representative  and  in 
fluential  journals  of  the  world  and  the  United  States 
no  less,  are  owned  and  controlled  by  Jews,  that  by 
virtue  of  their  mercantile  and  financial  standing  in 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  233 

this  country,  they  are  exercising  an  all-potent  and 
powerful  influence  in  the  direction  of  not  only  public 
opinion,  but  of  editorial  comment.  Understand  me 
distinctly,  that  this  power  is  not  used  to  subvert  or 
destroy  but  to  resent  and  defend,  aggression  on  the 
one  hand  and  rights  on  the  other,  and  thus  owing  to 
the  lamentable  and  deplorable  conditions  of  the  Jews 
in  Russia,  your  Government  suffers  a  loss  not  only 
of  prestige,  but  of  influence  and  friendship.  Emanci 
pate  the  Jews  of  Russia  and  in  less  than  five  years 
you  will  not  only  have  conquered  the  good-will  of 
the  whole  civilized  world,  but  you  will  have  a  power 
ful  ally,  that  element  which  up  to  the  present  mo 
ment  has  not  only  been  unfriendly  but  inimical  to 
the  prosperity  of  your  great  Empire.  We  do  not 
hate  Russia ;  we  do  not  wish  her  destruction ;  we  have 
no  desire  to  see  her  humiliated,  but  you  must  admit 
that  "blood  is  thicker  than  water,"  and  as  long  as 
the  Jews  of  Russia  are  treated  as  aliens,  there  can 
be  no  peace  or  concord  between  us.  Another  very 
important  factor  which  you  in  your  great  wisdom 
ignore  and  will  appreciate,  is  the  fact  that  in  giving 
the  Jews  full  liberty  in  Russia,  you  prevent  immigra 
tion  to  the  United  States,  and  thus  settle  once  and 
for  all  a  problem  that  confronts  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  may  in  the  course  of  time,  be 
come  a  subject  of  international  contention;  thus  by 
relieving  the  situation,  you  at  one  stroke,  win  also 
the  friendship  not  only  of  the  Government,  but  of 
the  entire  people  of  the  United  States.  You  will  of 
course,  understand  by  stating  the  subject  of  immi 
gration  as  being  a  menace,  it  can  never  be  a  menace 
if  the  stream  flows  naturally,  as  it  does  from  other 
countries. 


234  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

I  trust  Your  Excellency  will  give  this  letter  due 
consideration,  and  be  assured  that  I  am  actuated 
solely  by  motives  of  the  highest  consideration,  not 
only  for  your  own  country,  for  your  Emperor,  for 
your  own  well-known  liberal  views,  but  also  to 
strengthen  the  ties  of  kinship  between  nations  and 
nations,  and  to  bring  about  that  day  when  the 
"Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man" 
shall  be  the  reigning  and  dominant  principle  of 
human  conduct.  You  can,  if  you  desire,  find  out  as 
to  my  status  and  position  from  his  Excellency,  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

With  highest  respect  and  the  sincerest  admiration, 
I  am, 

Very  truly  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF, 
Chairman. 

To  which  the  following  reply  was  received: 

Hotel  St.  Regis,  New  York. 

August  4, 1905. 
Sir: 

I  have  been  directed  by  His  Excellency  M.  Witte 
to  inform  you  that  he  regrets  to  be  unable,  owing  to 
his  departure  to  Portsmouth  to  give  an  adequate 
answer  to  your  letter  dated  the  3rd  instant.  I  beg 
to  add  that  after  having  considered  the  matter  with 
the  most  serious  attention,  he  will  give  an  answer  in 
due  time.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir, 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

Y.   KOROSTOVETZ, 

Secretary. 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  235 

Regarding  the  persecution  of  Roumanian  Jews 
during  this  administration,  the  following  article 
which  was  written  at  that  time  is  self-explanatory: 

The  circular  letter  addressed  by  the  Secretary  of 
State  to  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  this  coun 
try  at  London,  Paris,  Berlin,  St.  Petersburg,  Rome, 
Vienna,  and  Constantinople,  protesting  against  the 
treatment  of  Jews  in  Roumania  and  their  consequent 
emigration  in  large  numbers  to  the  United  States, 
is  the  result  of  months  of  consultation  between  lead 
ing  Jewish  organizations  of  this  country  and  the 
State  Department. 

The  emigration  of  Roumanian  Jews  to  this  coun 
try  during  the  past  several  years  has  been  enforced; 
in  other  words,  these  unfortunate  and  persecuted 
people  are  not  emigrants  in  the  ordinary  acceptation 
of  the  term,  but  refugees  who  have  been  actually 
driven  out  of  their  country  by  the  enactment  of  laws 
denying  them  all  civil  rights.  The  Jew  in  Roumania 
is  prohibited  from  prosecuting  legal  proceedings, 
adopting  civil  professions, — in  fact,  he  is  an  outcast. 

This  treatment  of  Jews  by  Roumania  is  in  direct 
violation  of  the  Berlin  treaty  of  1878,  providing  for 
the  creation  of  the  Balkan  States,  a  clause  of  which 
expressly  stipulates  that  there  shall  be  no  discrimi 
nation  against  any  person  because  of  religious  belief. 

The  powers  to  which  our  diplomatic  representa 
tives  addressed  in  Secretary  Hay's  letter  are  ac 
credited  were  signatory  to  this  treaty.  The  United 
States  was  not  a  party  to  the  treaty,  and  disclaims 
any  local  influence  in  the  matter.  But  it  has  been 
represented  to  the  Secretary  of  State  that  the  in 
ordinate  emigration  of  these  unfortunates  from  Rou- 


236  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

mania  to  this  country  has  imposed  a  burden  upon 
our  own  citizens  of  Jewish  persuasion  that  may 
justly  be  regarded  as  calling  for  interference  on  the 
grounds  of  human  interest. 

From  time  immemorial  the  Jew  has  regarded  it 
as  his  duty  to  aid  his  less  fortunate  brethren.  We 
have  organizations  extending  in  their  ramifications 
all  over  the  United  States,  the  purpose  of  which  is 
to  see  that  Jews  are  afforded  opportunities  for  pur 
suing  their  chosen  trade,  business,  or  profession. 
Such  an  organization  is  the  Independent  Order  of 
B'nai  B'rith. 

So  great  a  call  for  help  was  exerted  by  the  influx 
of  the  poor  Jews  of  Roumania  that  it  was  found 
necessary  to  establish  a  Roumanian  committee,  with 
headquarters  in  New  York,  and  agents  in  other  cities 
throughout  the  Union.  As  openings  for  applicants 
were  found,  the  latter  were  provided  for.  Thus, 
word  would  come  to  New  York  from  the  committee's 
agent  in  a  certain  city  that  there  were  opportunities 
there  for  so  many  blacksmiths,  bootmakers,  tailors, 
etc.,  and  applicants  of  these  trades  were  sent  on  at 
once.  In  this  manner  thousands  of  Roumanian 
refugees  have  been  given  a  start  in  life  by  the  Rou 
manian  committee. 

The  Jews  of  New  York,  however,  upon  whom  the 
burden  of  caring  for  these  unfortunates  more  espe 
cially  devolved,  felt  that  they  could  no  longer  meet 
all  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  and  have,  with  the 
co-operation  of  others,  myself  among  the  number, 
put  the  matter  before  the  State  Department.  The 
first  action  taken  by  the  latter  was  to  address  a  letter, 
under  date  of  July  17th  last,  to  our  minister  accred 
ited  to  Roumania,  who  also  represents  this  country 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  237 

in  Greece  and  Servia.    The  letter  was  in  the  nature 
of  a  protest  to  the  Roumanian  Government. 

The  reply  received  I  am  under  the  seal  of  secrecy 
with  the  State  Department  not  to  divulge.  It  was 
felt  that  further  action  was  necessary,  and  hence  the 
petitioning  of  the  powers  signatory  to  the  Berlin 
treaty  through  our  diplomatic  representatives  ac 
credited  thereto. 

The  Department  with  which  I  came  most  in  con 
tact  was  that  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  under  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  Honorable  Oscar  S.  Straus.  Mr. 
Straus  had  a  very  delicate  task,  especially  in  dealing 
with  the  Bureau  of  Immigration,  but  he  mastered  the 
situation  with  skill  and  remarkable  intelligence. 

President  Roosevelt's  appointment  of  my  friend, 
Mr.  Straus,  as  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 
was  one  that  I  highly  appreciated.  Knowing  his  abil 
ity,  I  was  confident  that  he  would  distinguish  himself 
in  that  position  as  he  had  in  every  one  that  he  had 
the  honor  and  privilege  of  filling.  Many  times  the 
President  spoke  to  me  how  gratified  he  was  with 
the  work  and  thoughtful  advice  Mr.  Straus  gave  him 
during  his  administration. 

JACOB  H.  SCHIFF 

Mr.  Jacob  H.  Schiff  was  first  informed  by  President 
Roosevelt  of  his  intention  to  appoint  Hon.  Oscar  S. 
Strauss  as  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

This  mark  of  confidence  and  good-will  is  only  one 
of  many  that  Mr.  Schiff  has  received  at  home  and 
abroad. 

The  poet's  charming  words,  "It  is  a  glorious  thing 
to  have  a  giant's  strength,  if  humanely  used"  is  a  fit- 


238  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ting  eulogium  for  Mr.  Schiff.  He  has  "a  wilderness 
of  wealth"  and  thank  Heaven  knows  how  to  use  it. 
We  have  our  Rockefellers,  Carnegies,  but  the  world 
has  only  one  Jacob  H.  Schiff.  His  philanthropy  is  not 
bounded  or  circumscribed,  it  is  cosmopolitan;  nation 
ality  or  creed  have  never  dwarfed  or  warped  his  open 
mind,  heart  or  hand. 

My  attention  having  been  called  to  the  tabulation 
on  the  part  of  the  Immigration  Bureau  registering 
Hebrews  as  a  race,  which  classification  had  been,  on 
my  recommendation  and  protest,  abandoned  in  1899, 
I  took  the  matter  up  with  Hon.  Frank  P.  Sargent, 
then  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration,  who 
stated  that  he,  of  course,  knew  nothing  about  it; 
that  he  had  published  the  statistics  as  he  found  them 
prepared  by  his  predecessor.  He,  however,  said  he 
could  not  see  what  objection  we  could  in  reason  have, 
as  it  seemed  the  Jew  ought  to  feel  proud  to  make  his 
race  known,  as  there  was  no  intention  to  discriminate 
against  them,  to  foment  prejudice,  or  to  classify 
them  in  a  sectarian  sense.  Mr.  Sargent  also  stated 
to  me  that  the  Russian  Government  claimed  there 
was  no  such  immigration  from  Russia  as  the  statis 
tics  showed  at  that  time;  that  there  might  be  that 
many  Jews,  but  not  Russians,  showing  conclusively 
that  even  in  a  statistical  sense,  that  autocratic  Gov 
ernment  pursued  its  harsh  and  inhuman  course.  The 
tables  collected  by  the  Immigration  Bureau  were 
most  interesting  from  a  sociological  standpoint  and 
showed  the  comparative  number  of  immigrants,  and 
also  their  illiteracy;  and  this  very  illiteracy  pointed 
a  moral  as  to  the  persecutions  of  Russia  and  Rou- 
mania,  and  also  caused  one  to  question  why  the 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  239 

Jews  anywhere  should  be  illiterate,  unless  they  still 
cling  to  the  idea  that  prevailed  when  Moses  Men 
delsohn  translated  the  Bible  into  German.  Here  is 
an  important  subject  to  be  investigated  by  the  his 
torian  and  philosopher,  as  to  whether  a  part  of  the 
great  problem  is  not  owing  to  the  traditions  of  the 
past,  and  that  the  environments  of  the  present  are 
unfortunately  ignored. 

Commissioner-General  Sargent  referred  me  to 
Hon.  George  B.  Gortelyou,  at  that  time  Secretary  of 
the  Department  of  Gommerce  and  Labor,  the  matter 
having  been  turned  over  to  him  for  attention.  I 
therefore  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Cortelyou,  to  the 
following  effect: 

Hon.  George  B.  Cortelyou, 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Sir: 

Some  months  ago,  as  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Delegates  on  Civil  and  Religious  Rights  of  the  Union 
of  American  Hebrew  Congregations,  I  had  the  honor 
of  writing  a  letter  to  Commissioner  General  of  Im 
migration,  Frank  P.  Sargent,  in  reference  to  the 
classification  of  immigrants.  It  was  just  about  the 
time  the  Bureau  was  being  transferred  to  your  De 
partment.  I  subsequently  received  a  reply  from  the 
Commissioner-General  informing  me  that  the  matter 
had  been  referred  to  you  for  action.  You  will  re 
member  that  I  then  called  on  you,  and  you  seemed 
to  concur  in  the  ideas  that  I  had  advanced,  namely, 
that  all  immigrants  landing  at  our  seaports  should 
be  treated  uniformly  in  the  matter  of  classification; 
that  is,  if  Russian  subjects  of  Jewish  faith  were  clas- 


240  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

sified  as  Jews,  Russians  of  Christian  faith  should  be 
classified  as  Greek  Catholics,  or  to  whatever  religious 
faith  they  may  belong,  the  same  treatment  to  be 
given  to  all  immigrants,  no  matter  from  what  coun 
try  they  came.  But  should  such  a  course  not  be 
taken,  then  the  discrimination  which  exists  against 
immigrants  of  Jewish  faith  should  cease. 

I  made  this  statement  upon  the  strength  of  our 
interview  at  the  Summer  Assembly  of  the  Jewish 
Chautauqua  at  Atlantic  City,  and  it  was  hailed  and 
accepted  with  great  satisfaction.  I  saw  you  imme 
diately  on  my  return  from  Atlantic  City,  and  you 
told  me  then  that  the  matter  was  held  up  in  conse 
quence  of  a  construction  made  by  the  State  Depart 
ment,  which  claimed  that  the  Jewish  people  at  this 
time  constituted  a  race,  if  not  a  nation,  and  that  if 
this  construction  was  so  made  you  desired  evidence 
to  disprove  the  assumption.  In  other  words,  that  if 
the  Jewish  people  constituted  a  race,  then,  under  the 
immigration  laws  they  would  be  classified  the  same 
as  if  they  belonged  to  a  separate  nationality. 

I  have  never  for  a  moment  swerved  from  the 
opinion  that,  first,  the  Jew  at  present  has  no  nation 
ality  other  than  that  to  which  he  has  sworn  alle 
giance,  and  to  which  he  owes  obedience;  second,  the 
Jew  as  an  immigrant  should  not  be  classified  as 
belonging  to  a  race,  because  he  does  not  land  as  a 
Jew,  but  comes  as  a  native  of  the  country  in  which 
he  was  born;  third,  that  if  this  question  is  to  be 
treated  from  a  scientific  or  ethnological  standpoint, 
then  all  immigrants  should  be  treated  uniformly  so 
as  to  give  the  benefit  of  the  classification  to  the  world 
at  large;  fourth,  but  that  if  the  classification  is  relig 
ious,  then  I  most  solemnly  protest,  as  it  is  contrary 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  241 

to  the  spirit  and  genius  of  our  institutions,  and  the 
Government  is  assuming  functions  that  were  never 
contemplated  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States;  the  administrative  functions  are  political  and 
not  religious. 

To  be  absolutely  certain  in  the  view  that  I  enter 
tain,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  a  number  of  prominent 
American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith  asking  for  their 
opinion  in  this  matter,  and  have  received  replies 
from  every  one  I  so  addressed — copies  of  said  re 
plies,  I  herewith  attach — showing  conclusively  that 
the  construction  I  made  is  sustained  in  every  par 
ticular.  While  some  of  my  correspondents  differ  on 
the  question  of  race,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
they  are  Zionists,  who  believe  in  the  ultimate  return 
of  the  Jews  to  Palestine.  I  am  confident  that  after  a 
careful  perusal  of  the  documents  that  I  herewith 
offer,  you  will  no  longer  hesitate  to  either  abandon 
the  course  heretofore  taken  in  classifying  Jews  as 
such,  or  else  that  all  immigrants  shall  be  classified, 
not  only  as  to  their  nationality,  but  their  race,  poli 
tics,  religion,  and  whatever  may  be  conducive  to  pro 
duce  satisfactory  results  for  the  science  of  statistics 
and  ethnology. 

I  have  the  honor  also  to  enclose  to  you  a  letter 
from  the  Acting  Secretary  of  State,  A.  A.  Adee,  which 
explains  itself,  and  shows  conclusively  that  our  Gov 
ernment  has  always  looked  upon  the  action  of  Russia 
in  the  light  of  religious,  and  not  racial,  persecution. 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

The  letters  enclosed  to  Secretary  Cortelyou,  are 
given  herewith: 


242  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

August  5,  1903. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

In  reply  to  your  letter  of  yesterday,  I  beg  to  say 
that  I  am  unaware  of  any  authority  conferred  on 
the  officials  of  the  United  States  to  inquire  into  the 
religious  belief  of  any  person. 

I  am  equally  unaware  of  any  use  of  the  word 
"race"  in  our  Constitution  or  laws  except  to  designate 
marked  physical  diversity  of  color,  such  as  the  red  or 
Indian  race,  the  yellow  or  Mongolian,  the  black  or 
African.  Not  one,  I  think,  will  contend  that  the  Jews 
belong  to  any  other  than  the  group  called  Caucasian, 
which  doubtless  includes  many  varieties  or  sub-races. 
Into  the  distinctions  between  them,  I  do  not  think 
there  is  any  legal  warrant  or  practical  use,  or  even 
theoretical  capacity,  to  inquire.  The  test  among  them 
has  been,  not  sub-race,  but  nationality.  The  empires 
of  Russia,  Austria,  Germany,  Britain,  the  republic  of 
France,  the  kingdoms  of  Spain,  Italy  and  Portugal, 
each  contains  several  sub-races,  the  definite  ascer 
tainment  of  which  is  extremely  difficult,  and  has,  I 
think,  no  obvious  or  direct  relation  to  the  functions 
of  government. 

I  am  of  opinion,  therefore,  that  in  the  sense  in 
which  the  word  "race"  is  used  in  our  legislation,  the 
Jews  are  not  a  race,  but  that  the  latter  term  is  ap 
plied  to  them  chiefly  as  a  periphrastic  method  of 
denoting  their  religion. 

The  several  nationalities  of  persons  of  the  Jewish 
faith  are  just  as  easily  ascertained  as  those  of  the 
same  nationalities  who  hold  to  other  faiths. 

I  should  be  glad  to  be  referred  to  any  authorized 
and  well-considered  utterance  of  the  State  Depart- 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  243 

ment  which  rules  otherwise.  I  am  unaware  of  any, 
and  if  such  be  forthcoming,  I  should  like  to  examine 
and  review  it. 

Very  truly  yours, 

MAYER  SULZBERGER. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf. 

Germantown,  August  5,  1903. 

To  the  Hon.  Simon  Wolf: 
Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry  I  beg  to  say  that  in  my 
opinion  the  Jew  represents  neither  a  nation  nor  a 
race,  in  a  political  sense,  but  he  does  represent  a 
race  for  anthropological  and  sociological  purposes. 
Unless  the  Department  of  Commerce  classifies  all 
immigrants  according  to  races,  e.  g.,  a  subject  of  the 
Russian  Empire  not  a  Russian,  but  a  Slav,  Finn,  Ger 
man,  etc.,  I  can  not  see  why  a  Jewish  subject  of  that 
empire  should  be  entered  in  any  discriminatory  way. 
Rut  if  all  immigrants  are  recorded,  not  only  accord 
ing  to  the  countries  whence  they  hail,  but  also  ac 
cording  to  the  races  to  which  they  belong,  and  an 
Austrian,  for  instance,  is  not  merely  designated  as 
Austro-Hungarian,  but  also  marked  for  one  of  the 
ten  or  fifteen  nationalities  and  races  of  that  empire, 
then,  of  course,  we  can  take  no  exception  to  the  Rus 
sian  Jew  being  taken  as  a  Russian  belonging  to  the 
Jewish  race,  I  am,  dear  sir, 

Sincerely  yours, 

M.  JASTROW. 


244  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

New  York  City,  August  6, 1903. 

Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

926  F  Street,  N.  W., 

Washington,  D.  G. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

The  new  phase  in  the  classification  question  is  per 
plexing.  I  can  not  understand  why  the  State  Depart 
ment  has  felt  called  on  to  officially  determine  that 
the  Jews  are  a  race,  and  it  will  make  endless  trouble 
for  itself  if  such  a  decision  is  promulgated.  I  think 
that  you  should  explain  to  the  Department  that  one 
of  the  most  vexing  questions  of  controversy  among 
Jews  is  the  one  which  it  has  undertaken  to  settle. 
Leading  Reform  rabbis  of  this  country  utterly  re 
pudiate  the  race  doctrine  and  assent  that  the  Jews 
are  simply  a  religious  community.  On  the  other 
hand,  many  others,  and  especially  the  Zionists,  assent 
that,  aside  from  religious  considerations,  the  Jews 
constitute  a  race.  In  Russia,  where  it  is  claimed  that 
hostility  to  the  Jews  is  on  racial,  and  not  religious, 
grounds,  all  restrictions  cease  if  the  Jew  enters  the 
Greek  Church.  As  you  know,  the  B'nai  B'rith  does 
not  deal  with  academic  questions,  and,  therefore,  has 
not  made  any  official  declaration  on  the  subject.  I 
should  discourage  any  attempt  to  inject  it  into  our 
councils,  because  I  regard  it  in  practical  matters  as 
a  Pandora's  box.  Secretary  Hay  will,  I  am  con 
vinced,  not  unnecessarily  take  a  stand  which  will 
make  the  Government  the  protagonist  of  an  idea  to 
which  there  is  so  much  opposition  among  Jews  of 
the  greatest  influence.  Besides,  the  classification  of 
immigrants  is  not  made  on  race  lines,  insofar  as 
others  are  concerned.  The  Sclavs,  for  example,  are 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  245 

a  race,  but  if  Sclavs  became  citizens  of  France  and 
then  emigrate  to  the  United  States  they  would  be 
classified  according  to  their  nationality,  and  not  their 
race. 

Again,  if  a  Russian  Jewish  husband  and  wife 
become  converts  to  Christianity,  and  their  children, 
who  are  Christians,  emigrate  to  the  United  States, 
would  anyone  for  a  moment  classify  them  as  Jews? 
Yet  from  a  racial  standpoint  they  would  be  Jews, 
and  so  would  their  descendants.  If  the  Jews  are  to 
be  classified  as  a  race,  then  the  term  "race"  should 
be  defined  and  some  reason  assigned  for  the  classifi 
cation.  The  reason  should  be  one  that  applies  to 
all  others,  as  well  as  to  the  Jews. 

If  it  be  desirable  to  keep  a  record  of  the  national 
ity,  the  race  affiliation  and  religion  of  immigrants, 
the  record  should  embrace  all  of  them.  To  single 
out  the  Jews,  either  as  members  of  a  race  or  a  relig 
ious  community,  is  invidious,  and  fosters  the  preju 
dices  displayed  by  and  against  Jews  as  such. 

It  is  to  the  best  interests  of  the  immigrants  and  the 
country  that  as  speedily  as  possible  he  should  be 
come  an  American  in  every  respect.  It  is,  therefore, 
illogical  for  the  country  to  classify  the  Jews  in  a 
way  which  in  effect  declares,  "We  receive  you  to  be 
with  us,  but  not  of  us." 

Yours  sincerely, 

LEO  N.  LEVI. 

1627  R  Street,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

August  6,  1903. 
Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  your  letter  of  August  4th,  in  which  you  tell 
me  that  the  Government  authorities  are  disposed  to 


246  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

consider  that  the  Jews  are  a  race,  and  not  a  church, 
and  that,  if  this  claim  be  correct,  under  the  new  im 
migration  laws  Jews  must  be  classified  as  such,  not 
on  account  of  their  religion,  but  as  a  race,  and  to 
ask  my  opinion  whether  the  Jews  stand  in  the  world 
as  belonging  to  a  race,  or  as  simply  a  citizen  or  sub 
ject  of  the  country  in  which  he  resides. 

I  presume  that  you  do  not  wish  in  reply  to  this  a 
long  scientific  disquisition,  but  I  may  say  to  you,  in 
the  first  place,  that  anthropologists  are  divided  as  to 
the  exact  meaning  of  the  word  "race."  In  fact,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  get  them  to  agree  upon  a  defini 
tion. 

Assuming  for  the  moment  that  a  race  is  an  ethnical 
stock,  a  great  division  of  mankind  having  in  common 
certain  distinguishing  physical  peculiarities  appear 
ing  to  be  derived  from  a  distinct  primitive  source,  I 
should  say  that  in  this  sense  the  Jews  were  not, 
strictly  speaking,  a  race. 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  written  about  the  pur 
ity  of  the  Jewish  stock,  but  there  is  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  during  the  long  period  of  the  dispersion, 
say  about  two  thousand  years,  Jews  have  intermin 
gled  with  other  peoples.  They  have  received  large 
numbers  of  converts,  and  that  is  especially  true  in 
the  southern  part  of  Russia,  where,  some  twelve 
centuries  ago,  an  entire  native  tribe  was  converted 
to  Judaism,  giving  to  the  Jews  of  Southern  Russia 
distinct  Slavic  character.  There  are,  moreover,  in 
Abyssinia  Jewish  tribes  called  Falashas,  who  in  gen 
eral  appearance  do  not  differ  from  native  Abyssin- 
ians,  and  would  probably,  if  they  came  to  this  coun 
try,  be  classed  as  negroes,  yet  they  themselves  would 
undoubtedly  express  their  adherence  to  the  Jewish 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  247 

Church.  The  same  is  true  in  India,  where  there  are 
some  thousands  of  black  Jews,  and  in  the  interior  of 
China,  where  there  are  Jews  in  every  way  in  appear 
ance  like  Chinamen  and  using  the  Chinese  tongue. 

If  this  Government  proposes  to  split  the  citizens  or 
subjects  of  various  nations  up  into  the  stock  whence 
they  sprang  originally,  it  would  entail  upon  itself  a 
pretty  long  genealogy  of  every  immigrant.  Immi 
grants  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  alone  would 
have  to  be  split  up  into  several  groups;  immigrants 
from  Austria  into  many  more.  Indeed,  there  is 
hardly  a  nation  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  which  is 
not  made  up  of  various  elements.  Moreover,  the 
classification  of  persons  as  Jews  would  inevitably, 
no  matter  what  the  intention  of  the  Government 
might  be,  result  in  the  classification  as  Jews  of  only 
those  who  are  members  of  the  Jewish  Church,  and 
not  those  who  are  of  Jewish  descent.  Had  the  Earl 
of  Beaconsfield  married  a  Jewess,  and  had  they  both 
been  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  he  was, 
their  son,  were  he  an  immigrant  to  the  United  States, 
would  be  of  Jewish  stock,  but  probably  not  of  the 
Jewish  Church,  and  would  not  report  himself  as  a 
Jew,  but  as  an  English  Christian.  Yet  from  the  race 
point  of  view  he  would  probably  be  more  a  Jew  than 
a  member  of  the  Jewish  Church  coming  from  South 
ern  Russia,  since  many  of  those  people,  as  I  have 
stated,  are  persons  of  Slavic  blood. 

Trusting  that  this  may  in  some  measure  answer 
your  question,  I  am, 

Yours  sincerely, 

CYRUS  ADLER. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  926  F  Street,  Washington,  D.  C. 


248  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Atlantic  City,  August  7,  1903. 
The  Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
Washington,  D.  G. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf : 

In  reply  to  yours  of  yesterday,  I  have  the  pleasure 
to  say  that  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you  take  up  this 
matter  with  the  authorities.  Unfortunately,  if  the 
State  Department  rules  that  races  must  be  classified, 
our  case  is  well-nigh  hopeless.  I  myself  have  al 
ways  contended  that  the  Jews  do  not  constitute  a 
distinct  race.  The  modern  Jew  is  the  descendant  of 
generations,  that  through  intermarriage  with  non- 
Hebrews  (in  biblical  and  post-biblical  times  down  to 
the  second  Christian  century)  had  lost  their  purity  of 
racial  stock.  Conversions,  too,  in  Alexandria  and 
Rome  before  the  Christian  era  helped  to  adulterate 
the  Jewish  blood.  I  do  not  believe  that  anthropologi 
cally  our  racial  purity  or  distinctness  can  be  estab 
lished.  But  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia  has  taken  the 
opposite  position,  and  many  of  our  orators  have  so 
often  discoursed  on  "our  race"  that  the  State  Depart 
ment  will  have  no  trouble  in  finding  warrant  for  its 
assumption.  But  are  non-Jews  classified  according 
to  race?  Are  Germans  numbered  as  Slavonic,  Teu 
tonic,  Gallic — for  the  modern  German  presents  these 
varieties  in  many  cases?  Are  the  subjects  of  the 
King  of  England  classified  as  Anglo-Saxons,  Scotch, 
Celtic,  Gaelic,  etc.?  If  the  Department  holds  that  the 
Jews  constitute  a  nationality,  it  is  clearly  wrong. 
The  Russian  Jews  are,  or  ought  to  be,  Russians.  Do 
the  authorities  go  to  the  length  of  classifying  Jewish 
Germans  as  Jews?  If  they  do,  they  ignore  the  Ger 
man  Constitution,  and  our  own  as  well.  I  know  that 
when  I  was  naturalized  I  had  to  forswear  allegiance, 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  249 

not  to  our  hypothetical  King  of  Palestine,  but  to  the 
Grand-Duke  of  Luxemburg,  whose  subject  by  birth  I 
was,  and  under  whose  government,  by  law  distinc 
tions  between  Jew,  non-Jew,  heathen,  Catholic,  Prot 
estant,  are  explicitly  and  constitutionally  prohibited. 
Fight  the  good  fight!  You  put  us  all  under  great 
obligations.  This  classification  may  not  be  intended 
as  a  piece  of  anti-Semitic  chicanery,  but  it  resembles 
it  very  closely.  We  may  remember  it  some  day  at 
the  polls. 
Yours  very  cordially  and  with  high  esteem, 

EMIL  G.  HIRSCH. 

Chicago,  111.,  August  7,  1903. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  C. 

DEAR  FRIEND: — Your  letter  of  the  4th  inst.  was  re 
ceived  by  me  yesterday  afternoon  at  a  late  hour,  and 
this  forenoon  it  shall  be  one  of  my  first  occupations 
to  answer  the  same. 

In  my  opinion  the  Department  of  Commerce  is 
perfectly  correct  in  considering  the  Jewish  people 
as  a  race.  Of  this  race,  almost  all  of  its  members 
are  confessors  of  a  religion,  which  is  designated  by 
the  same  adjective,  viz.:  Jewish.  I  said  "almost  all 
its  members,"  and  not  "all  the  members  thereof." 
A  baptized  Jew  is,  notwithstanding  his  having  joined 
one  of  the  Christian  denominations,  a  member  of 
the  Jewish  race;  but  looked  at  from  a  religious  stand 
point,  he  is  a  Catholic,  or  a  Baptist,  or  an  Epis 
copalian,  etc.,  just  as  the  case  may  be.  On  the  other 
side,  a  convert  to  Judaism,  considered  from  a  racial 
standpoint,  may  belong  to  the  Teutonic,  or  the  Celtic, 
or  the  Slavic,  or  any  other  race,  while  at  the  same 


250  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

time,  if  his  religious  status  is  considered,  he  must  be 
classified  among  the  Jews. 

Lord  Beaconsfield,  before  a  census-taker,  would 
have  said:  "Racially,  I  am  a  Jew;  religiously,  I  am  an 
Episcopalian;  and  politically,  I  am  an  English  citi 
zen."  And  Warder  Cresson,  who,  some  sixty  years 
ago,  was  a  United  States  Consul  in  Jerusalem,  would, 
placed  in  a  similar  position,  have  set  forth  that, 
racially,  he  is  a  Scotchman;  religiously,  a  Jew;  and 
politically,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

I  have  discussed  this  question  at  some  length,  in 
an  essay  lately  published  in  Berlin,  and  it  is  a  pleas 
ure  to  me  to  mail  you  a  copy  of  it  at  the  same  time 
with  this  letter.  Please  read  it  with  some  attention. 
Perhaps  you,  being  of  a  judicial  and  unbiased  mind, 
who  seeks  the  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  may 
then  come  to  the  conclusion  that  my  view  is  based 
upon  good  grounds  and  firm  foundations. 

If  I  should  be  asked  now  by  the  Department  of 
Commerce  to  give  my  opinion  on  this  matter  I  would 
propose  that,  in  the  interest  of  the  science  of  statis 
tics,  besides  statements  concerning  number,  age, 
birthplace,  etc.,  the  following  statements  should  be 
made,  in  a  tabulated  form,  when  taking  a  census  or 
when  listing  immigrants,  etc.: 

1.  What  was  your  political  status? 

2.  To  what  race  do  you  belong? 

3.  What  church  are  you  connected  with? 

Let  me  now  elucidate  this  a  little  more  in  detail. 
A  crowd  of  immigrants  may  step  at  the  same  time 
before  the  proper  officer,  and  in  answer  to  question 
No.  1  they  all  may  declare,  "We  have  been  Russians." 
But  in  responding  to  question  No.  2,  the  one  may 
say,  I  am  a  Polander;  the  next  one,  I  am  a  German; 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  251 

the  third  one,  I  am  a  Finn,  or  a  Gypsy,  or  a  Jew,  etc. 
In  answer  to  Question  3,  they  would  also  differ  among 
themselves. 

Similarly  there  may  appear  several  persons,  all  of 
whom  declaring  that,  politically,  they  have  been 
Austrians,  but,  racially,  the  one  will  be  a  German; 
the  other,  a  Magyar,  or  a  Slav,  or  an  Italian,  or  a 
Jew,  etc.  But  no  one  could  in  this  respect  be  entered 
as  an  "Austrian,"  for  the  science  of  ethnology  of 
modern  mankind  does  not  admit  the  existence  of  an 
Austrian  race.  The  word  "Austrian"  expresses  only 
a  political,  but  not  an  ethnological,  conception. 

In  a  similar  way  many  immigrants  may,  politically, 
have  been  Swiss;  but,  racially,  they  are  either  Ger 
mans,  or  Italians,  or  French,  or  Jews.  To  enter  them 
in  the  lists,  in  the  racial  regard,  as  Swiss,  would  be 
nonsensical.  For  the  science  of  ethnology  knows 
nothing  of  a  Swiss  race. 

The  confusion  so  often  met  with  in  regard  to  this 
matter  arises  from  the  confounding  of  the  term 
"race,"  which  has  its  own  distinct  meaning  in  the 
science  of  ethnology,  with  the  term  "citizenship,"  or 
the  like,  which  only  refers  to  political  status. 

Now,  think  of  the  inhabitants  of  our  own  United 
States.  Politically  they  are  natives,  as  well  as  natu 
ralized,  new-comers,  "Americans,"  but  racially — how 
they  differ!  There  are  a  very  large  number  of  so- 
called  Pennsylvania  Dutch  in  our  republic  whose 
ancestors  came  to  America  two  hundred  years  ago, 
and  who  politically  certainly  are  Americans,  but  who 
racially  must  be  classified  as  Germans,  because  thus 
far  they  did  not  intermarry  with  people  of  non- 
German  races  and  maintained  the  purity  of  their 
race. 


252  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Now,  suppose  a  native  American  Jew,  or  a  natu 
ralized  American  Jew,  should  be  asked  by  a  census 
taker,  "To  what  race  do  you  belong?"  Shall  he 
answer  in  the  nonsensical  words,  "I  belong  to  the 
United  States  race?"  Or  can  he  answer,  "To  the 
Swiss  race,  or  the  Magyar  race,  or  the  Irish  race?" 
To  some  race  he  must  necessarily  belong,  and  his 
only  admissible  answer  will  have  to  be,  "I  belong  to 
the  Jewish  race." 

I  beg  now  to  suggest  to  you,  my  dear  friend  Wolf, 
that  you  respectfully  ask  of  the  proper  authorities  in 
Washington  City  to  instruct  the  proper  officers  in 
New  York  and  elsewhere  to  set  down,  not  merely 
the  names  of  the  people,  and  their  age  and  birth 
place,  etc.,  but  to  characterize  also  their  former 
political  status  and  their  religious  affiliation.  By 
doing  so,  and  by  doing  it  intelligently,  a  great  ser 
vice  would  be  rendered  to  the  science  of  statistics. 

In  carrying  out  this  suggestion,  very  many  who 
would  be  entered  in  the  racial  columns  as  "Jews," 
would  in  the  religious  column  appear  as  "Agnostics," 
or  as  "Unchurched,"  as  as  "Infidels,"  etc.  Neverthe 
less,  I  would  be  the  last  one  to  deny  to  them  the 
appellation,  "Jewish."  They  are  Jewish,  at  least  in 
the  ethnological  sense  of  the  word. 

I  have  to  stop  now,  my  esteemed  friend.  I  am 
afraid  I  might  have  been  too  garrulous — but  to  be 
garrulous  is  the  privilege  of  old  people — and  I  may 
have  tired  you.  If  so,  please  excuse  me.  At  least 
I  hope  that  I  may  have  made  it  clear  to  you  that  the 
authorities  in  Washington  are  correct  when  they 
insist  upon  classifying  Jews  as  a  particular  race  at 
the  side  of  the  German,  the  Irish,  the  Scotch,  the 
Magyar,  and  others. 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  253 

With  best  regards  and  sincere  wishes  for  your 
well  being,  I  remain, 

Yours  very  truly, 

B.  FELSENTHAL. 

August  9,  1903. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  C. 

DEAR  MR.  WOLF: — Your  contention  that  either  all 
immigrants  should  be  classified  according  to  re 
ligion,  or  this  classification  must  disappear  with  the 
Jew,  is  irrefutable.  The  Jews  are  certainly  not  a 
race,  in  the  scientific  sense  of  the  word.  Neither 
the  shape  of  the  skull  or  the  color  of  the  eyes  and 
hair,  show  a  uniform  characteristic.  The  fact  that 
most  of  the  Jews  can  be  recognized  as  such  by  their 
features  is  not  against  this  assertion.  First  of  all, 
it  is  a  family  resemblance,  and,  secondly,  some  Jews, 
like  the  Beni  Israel  in  India,  or  the  Jews  of  South 
ern  Bussia,  or  of  some  parts  of  Hungary,  show  such 
distinctive  features  that  their  type  will  be  recog 
nized  as  different  from  the  average  Jew.  As  an  in 
stance,  I  may  quote  that  a  student  from  the  Beni 
Israel  at  our  college  was  once  asked  by  street 
gamins,  "Mister,  are  you  an  Arab?"  and  when  I  was 
with  him  in  the  lobby  of  a  hotel  in  an  Indiana  town, 
a  gentleman  asked  me,  "To  which  race  does  this 
man  belong?"  It  is  further  a  fact  that  Jews  were 
frequently  mixed  with  proselytes  of  other  nations, 
so  with  the  Tartars  of  Southern  Bussia,  when  the 
whole  nation  of  Chazars  converted  and  individually 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  In  a  volume  of  rabbinical 
decisions  of  the  sixteenth  century  I  found  a  ques 
tion  of  matrimonial  law  arising  from  the  fact  that  a 
Spanish  Jew  had  children  from  a  slave,  who  were 
raised  as  Jews.  Such  cases  can  not  have  been  alto- 


254  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

gether  exceptional,  for  frequently  do  we  find  in 
Jewish  sources  decisions  and  laws  about  the  con 
versions  of  slaves,  and  also  in  ecclesiastic  sources 
prohibitions  against  such  conversions.  The  Depart 
ment  of  Commerce  will  find  itself  in  a  quandary 
how  to  define  the  status  of  a  Jew  who  is  the  offspring 
of  a  mixed  marriage.  Does  he  belong  to  the  Jewish 
race  or  not  when  his  mother  is  a  Christian?  Cases 
of  this  kind  are  frequent,  both  in  America  and 
abroad.  In  Berlin,  for  instance,  the  number  of  in 
termarriages  is  two  hundred  a  year.  Out  of  six 
Jewish  persons,  one  marries  out  of  faith,  and  one- 
fourth  of  the  children  of  such  marriages  are  raised 
as  Jews,  and  three-fourths  are  raised  as  Christians. 
If  the  latter  did  not  belong  to  the  Jewish  race,  why 
should  the  former?  Finally,  if  a  converted  Jew 
should  arrive  here  and  insist  that  he  is  a  Christian, 
the  whole  cabinet  can  not  alter  it. 

In  order  to  give  you  exact  data,  I  should  have  to 
have  more  time  for  collecting  them.  I  wish,  how 
ever,  to  call  your  attention  to  the  article  "Anthro 
pology"  in  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia.  Permit  me  to 
add  one  thing  which  you  have  not  asked  of  me.  If 
the  Government  wishes  to  classify  Jews  coming  from 
Russia,  Roumania  and  Galicia  as  such,  it  seems  to 
me  that  there  could  not  be  any  objection  to  such  a 
proceeding.  Almost  all  of  these  people  'emigrate 
because  they  are  Jews,  and  if  the  Government  wishes 
to  find  out,  for  the  sake  of  statistics,  the  reasons 
which  bring  immigrants  to  these  shores,  no  reason 
able  man  could  object  to  it.  I  shall  be  only  too  glad 
to  furnish  you  further  information  as  you  think  I 
am  capable  of  giving,  and  remain, 

Yours  sincerely, 

G.  DEUTSCH. 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  255 

August  10,  1903. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  WOLF: — Your  note  of  the  8th  inst. 
just  comes  to  hand,  and  in  reply  thereto  I  would  say 
that  the  question  pending  before  the  Department  of 
Commerce  whether  Jewish  immigrants  are  to  be 
classified  as  Jews  or  as  citizens  of  the  country  they 
come  from  is  highly  interesting,  but  not  so  easy  to 
answer,  inasmuch  as  those  coming  from  Roumania 
and  Russia  are  scarcely  considered  by  their  govern 
ments  as  Roumanians  or  Russians,  and  the  former, 
moreover,  are  expressly  declared  by  the  law  of  Rou 
mania,  though  contrary  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
Berlin,  as  aliens.  Ethnologically,  the  Jews  certainly 
represent  a  race,  since  both  their  religion  and  his 
tory  ever  kept  them  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  country  they  inhabit.  Nevertheless,  I 
agree  with  you  that,  as  our  Government  does  not 
register  the  immigrants  otherwise  than  according  to 
their  country,  being  not  at  all  concerned  either  with 
their  religion  or  their  specific  ethnological  character, 
the  Jewish  immigrants  should  be  classified  as  citi 
zens  of  their  respective  countries,  and  not  as  Jews. 
With  cordial  greetings,  yours, 

DR.  K.  KOHLER. 

August  27,  1903. 

DEAR  MR.  WOLF: — I  am  receipt  of  your  favor 
which  has  been  forwarded  to  me  from  America. 
Regarding  the  question  of  race,  I  am  very  sorry  that 
I  am  unable  to  serve  you,  as  it  was  always  my  opin 
ion  that  the  Jews  are  a  race.  They  are,  of  course, 
as  the  result  of  their  chequered  history,  now  divided 
into  American  citizens,  English  subjects,  etc.;  but 
this  can  not  alter  the  fact  of  their  common  origin 


256  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

and  their  common  blood,  which  has  received  very 
little  intermixture.  Perhaps  I  may  refer  you  to  a 
writing  of  mine,  "Epistle  to  the  Jews  of  England," 
in  which  I  expressed  this  opinion  with  some  em 
phasis.  I  think  this  is  a  doctrine  which  we  ought 
to  hold  up  at  the  risk  of  being  misunderstood.  The 
contrary  standpoint  leads  to  assimilation,  which  is 
more  dangerous  to  Judaism  than  any  device  the 
anti-Semites  may  invent. 

I  regret  to  differ  from  you  on  this  matter,  but  we 
agree  on  so  many  things  that  deviation  on  this  one 
point  can  in  no  way  influence  our  mutual  respect 
and  good  opinion  we  entertain  of  each  other,  at 
least  it  wras  always  so  on  my  part,  and  will  also  re 
main  so.  With  best  regards, 

Yours  sincerely, 

S.   SCHECHTER. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  September  5,  1903. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf. 

DEAR  FRIEND  AND  SIR: — Excuse  my  delay  in  not 
answering  your  first  letter.  In  that  letter  you  did 
not  ask  my  opinion,  but  simply  requested  my  assent 
to  your  own.  As  I  did  not  agree  with  you,  I  did  not 
answer.  This  time  you  call  for  my  opinion,  and  I 
give  it  cheerfully.  It  is  that  for  all  practical  pur 
poses  the  Jews  are  a  race,  and  I  am  very  glad  that 
the  Commissioner  of  Immigration  treats  them  as 
such  in  his  report.  If  he  did  not,  we  should  not  get 
any  authentic  reports  of  Jewish  immigration,  which 
it  is  so  important  to  have. 

Truly  yours, 

LEWIS  N.  DEMBITZ. 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  257 

September  2,  1903. 
Hon.  John  Hay,  Secretary  of  State, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

DEAR  SIR: — I  am  informed  by  the  Department  of 
Commerce  that  your  Department  holds  that  the 
Jewish  people  belong  to  a  race,  and  that,  if  such  is 
the  fact,  the  immigrants  of  Jewish  faith  must  be  so 
classified  as  Jews,  and  not  as  Russians,  Frenchmen, 
Englishmen,  etc.  I  have  denied  this  claim,  and  am 
prepared  to  prove  it  by  the  opinion  of  leading  Jew 
ish  thinkers  of  this  country. 

Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  inform  me  how  the 
State  Department  arrived  at  this  conclusion,  and 
what  facts,  ethnological  or  historical,  are  in  your 
possession  warranting  such  a  conclusion?  This  is  a 
matter  of  very  grave  importance,  for  no  other  re 
ligious  body  is  so  classified,  Catholic,  Methodist, 
Baptist,  etc.,  but  against  the  Jews  only  is  this  dis 
crimination  made,  which  is  contrary  to  every  prin 
ciple  of  our  Government. 

Understand,  that  in  this  matter  I  am  acting  as 
Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Delegates  of  the  Union  of 
American  Hebrew  Congregations. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  September  4,  1903. 
Simon  Wolf,  Esq.,  926  F  Street,  N.  W., 

Washington,  D.  C. 

SIR: — The  Department  is  in  receipt  of  your  letter 
of  September  2,  stating  that  you  are  informed  by 
the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  that  this 
Department  holds  that  the  Jewish  people  belong  to 


258  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

a  race,  and  asking  how  the  Department  arrives  at 
this  conclusion? 

In  reply  you  are  informed  that  the  Department 
has  not  expressed  an  opinion  on  the  subject,  for  the 
reason  that  no  question  has  arisen  before  it  requir 
ing  an  authoritative  determination  of  the  point.  On 
the  contrary,  this  Government  has  opposed  the  con 
tention  of  Russia  and  other  countries  that  the  treat 
ment  of  Jews  by  them  was  founded  on  racial,  and 
not  on  religious  grounds. 

The  extraordinary  conservation  of  the  unity  of 
the  Jewish  people  through  the  vicissitudes  of  many 
centuries,  and  in  the  face  of  wide  dispersion,  may 
not  inaptly  create  an  impression  in  many  minds  that 
their  cohesion  is  of  a  racial  character,  and  casual 
expression  may  have  been  given  to  this  idea,  but 
without  design  or  competency  to  fix  their  ethnolog 
ical  standing  among  the  races  of  the  world,  and  still 
less  to  assign  to  them  a  national  position. 

The  views  of  our  agents  abroad,  as  developed  in 
their  correspondence  with  this  Department,  may  be 
found  in  the  volumes  of  "Foreign  Relations  of  the 
United  States,"  I  am  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
ADEE, 
Acting  Secretary. 

I  contended  that  this  classification  strengthened 
the  hands  of  the  anti-Semitic  countries  by  officially 
regarding  the  Jews  of  a  country,  even  if  of  gener 
ations  of  native  descent,  as  not  partaking  of  the 
nationality  of  their  fatherland,  an  abuse  unknown 
in  the  administration  of  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  until  introduced  under  the  regime  of  Com- 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  259 

missioner  Powderly,  as  is  more  fully  explained  by 
the  following  letter: 

T.  V.  POWDERLY  ON  THE  IMMIGRATION  QUESTION. 

Washington,  April  7,  1899. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  WOLF: 

Since  the  occasion  of  your  last  visit,  I  have  been 
the  recipient  of  two  papers  in  which  editorial  refer 
ence  is  made  to  the  method  of  gathering  statistics 
of  arriving  immigrants.  One  is  the  American  Israel 
ite,  published  by  Leo  Wise  &  Co.,  of  Cincinnati; 
the  other  is  the  Jewish  Advocate,  published  by  the 
Jewish  Advocate  Publishing  Co.,  of  Rochester,  New 
York. 

The  editorial  in  the  American  Israelite  is  of  an 
inquiring  nature  and  deals  in  no  criticism;  it  sim 
ply  states  the  facts  and  very  properly  questions 
whether  the  innovation  will  be  of  benefit.  The 
Jewish  Advocate,  however,  is  more  inclined  to  be 
sarcastic  than  fair,  for  it  charges  me  with  making 
the  discovery  that  "Paris  is  a  seaport"  and  concludes 
with  the  following  paragraph: 

"In  conclusion  allow  me  to  state  that  the  immi 
gration  statistics  have  invariably  given  the  national 
ities  of  incoming  immigrants,  the  religion  has  not 
been  inquired  into,  that  being  considered  by  this 
Republic  as  a  matter  of  conscience  and  if  you  con 
sider  it  your  duty  to  make  inquiries  into  the  relig 
ious  belief  of  immigrants,  you  do  so  with  all  and  do 
not  make  a  speciality  of  any  particular  creed."  It 
would  appear  from  this  that  some  person,  either 
malicious  or  misinformed,  has  given  out  a  statement 
that  only  Jews  were  questioned  as  to  their  religious 
belief.  The  fact  is  that  the  arriving  immigrant  is 


260  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

questioned  as  to  birthplace,  the  religion  he  pro 
fesses  as  well  as  the  race  he  comes  from,  and  all  are 
questioned  alike. 

When  this  new  plan  of  gathering  statistics  was  in 
contemplation,  I  gave  careful  thought  to  the  prob 
ability  of  the  object  being,  at  first  misunderstood, 
for  there  is  nothing  on  which  men  are  so  sensitive 
as  the  question  of  religion,  although,  from  my  point 
of  view,  there  exists  no  reason  whatever  why  men 
should  be  either  sensitive  on  the  subject  or  should 
hesitate  to  proclaim  their  religious  belief  in  the 
United  States.  When  the  census  is  taken  decen 
nially,  every  man  and  woman  is  questioned  as  to  his 
or  her  religious  belief;  not  so  much  the  belief  as  the 
denomination  which  he  or  she  may  profess,  and 
when  questioned  by  the  census  enumerator  they  feel 
a  delicacy  in  answering  the  inquiry. 

The  object  of  asking  the  immigrant  to  state  his 
religious  belief  is  for  statistical  purposes  solely,  and 
no  invidious  distinction  will  be  made  because  of  the 
religion  professed  by  the  incoming  American.  You 
will  see  on  examination  of  the  manifest  that  there 
is  no  tracing  of  the  man  or  woman  beyond  the  Immi 
gration  Bureau,  the  fact  that  so  many  Protestants, 
Hebrews,  Catholics  and  infidels  pass  through  our 
gates  of  entry  is  all  that  can  be  made  known,  and  no 
person  can  be  singled  out  or  followed  for  the  pur 
pose  of  visiting  persecution  or  indignity  upon  him 
for  any  cause.  Once  the  immigration  officials  decide 
that  the  immigrant  is  entitled  to  land,  he  then  stands 
before  the  law,  the  equal  of  all  other  people  in  the 
United  States,  and  his  religion,  or  lack  of  it,  will 
influence  no  true  American  in  dealing  with  him. 

I  notice  that  the  Jewish  Advocate,  in  commenting 
upon  the  feature,  has  this  to  say: 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  261 

"This  discovery  led  up  to  the  most  wonderful  of 
all  discoveries — that,  out  of  5,300  immigrants  arriv 
ing  in  the  last  quarter  of  1897  from  Russia,  only  250 
were  Russians,  5,050  being  Jews.  Sapient  Mr.  Pow- 
derly,  are  you  not  classifying  immigrants  according 
to  their  religion  instead  of  nationality?  These  5,050 
were  as  much  Russian  as  any  of  the  250." 

The  present  method  of  gathering  statistics  was  not 
in  practice  during  the  last  quarter  of  1897,  and,  as  I 
am  not  acquainted  with  the  source  of  this  informa 
tion,  I  can  not  comment  upon  that  part  of  his  edi 
torial.  I  wish  to  say,  however,  that  I  am  not  classi 
fying  immigrants  according  to  the  religion  instead 
of  the  nationality,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  infor 
mation  as  to  religion  only.  It  is  not  charged  or  will 
statistics  show  that  the  5,050  were  not  classed  as 
Russians,  but  if  his  figures  are  correct  and  but  250 
are  set  down  as  Russians,  or  Muscovites,  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  5,050  must  have  been  dissatisfied  with 
their  native  land  for  some  reason,  else  they  would 
not  have  immigrated  in  such  numbers.  The  fact 
that  they  were  Jews  would  indicate  that  it  was 
because  of  religious  intolerance  or  persecution  that 
they  left  their  native  land  for  the  purpose  of  seeking 
homes  on  a  soil  where  the  seed  of  religious  bigotry 
can  take  no  abiding  root  and  where  hatred  of  a  man 
because  of  his  worship  of  God,  in  any  form  of  relig 
ion  he  may  choose  to  profess,  is  not  countenanced 
by  the  Constitution  of  our  country  or  sanctioned  by 
broad-minded,  true  Americans. 

I  believe  that,  when  our  method  of  gathering  sta 
tistics  is  understood,  the  Jews  of  this  country  will 
be  the  first  to  approve  of  the  measure.  It  will  enable 
them  to  ascertain  each  year  how  many  of  their  race 


262  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

and  co-religionists  have  arrived  and  will  tend  to 
show  that  they  are  a  power  in  the  United  States.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  people  of  the  United  States  will 
know  that  a  class  of  people  are  coming  to  us  who 
may  be  depended  upon  to  obey  the  law,  defend  the 
Constitution,  and  protect  the  institutions  of  our 
common  country. 

I  have  had  an  experience  of  35  years  in  public 
life.  During  that  time  many  of  my  associates  and 
co-workers  in  the  industrial  movement  were  Jews, 
and  I  can  not  recall  a  day  when  the  Jew  of  the 
organized  labor  movement  did  not  stand  for  law 
and  order,  and  opposed  to  anarchism  or  violence. 
Among  my  friends  and  neighbors  at  home  are  many 
Jews,  and  they  stand  in  the  forefront  of  our  citizen 
ship.  You  will  see,  therefore,  that  from  a  personal 
standpoint  I  have  every  reason  to  be  friendly  to  the 
Jew,  and  no  reason  to  be  antagonistic  to  him.  There 
are  Jews  in  the  Immigration  Service  who  assist  in 
collecting  these  statistics  and  they  can  see  no  reason 
why  a  change  should  be  made. 

Previous  to  your  call  I  examined  the  statistics  of 
those  who  fell  into  distress  and  became  public 
charges  within  one  year  after  landing  in  this  coun 
try;  I  was  pleased  to  know  and  you  will  be  to  learn 
that  there  are  no  Jews  among  them. 

It  certainly  can  be  stated  with  absolute  truth  that 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  the  various 
States  and  cities,  have  not  become  responsible  for 
or  taxed  in  any  way  or  manner  by  having  to  care  for 
Jewish  immigrants.  That  work  has  been  well  and 
generously  performed  by  the  American  citizen  of  the 
Jewish  faith  in  their  own  quiet  and  unostentatious 
way.  Homes  for  orphans,  hospitals  for  the  suffer- 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  263 

ing,  schools  for  the  ignorant  and  un-Americanized 
have  been  opened  in  all  directions,  and  are  doing 
splendid  work  in  assimilating  these  immigrants  and 
fitting  them  for  American  citizenship.  No  one  rec 
ognizes  this  marvelous  work  with  greater  frankness 
than  the  Bureau  of  Immigration,  which  is  thoroughly 
cognizant  of  all  these  facts,  and  your  statement 
made  to  me  recently,  that  American  Jewish  philan 
thropy  in  the  last  thirty  years  has  amounted  to 
more  than  $50,000,000  was  not  surprising. 

A  race  that  withstood  the  persecution  of  centuries, 
that  has  been  driven  before  the  four  winds  of  heaven 
because  of  their  adherence  to  the  faith  of  their 
fathers  and  who  have,  through  all  these  centuries  of 
time,  maintained  that  faith  and  their  own  manhood 
as  well,  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  fullest  light 
which  our  statistics  may  throw  upon  them  as  they 
pass  the  portal  of  the  Republic.  They  certainly  have 
nothing  to  be  ashamed  of  in  the  record.  Whether 
contributing  their  effort  and  wealth  in  building  up 
the  commercial  strength  of  the  nation,  in  attesting 
their  devotion  to  its  principles  and  institutions,  or 
on  the  field  of  battle,  the  American  Jew  is  in  the 
vanguard.  I  do  not  speak  these  words  in  flattery, 
but  because  they  are  true.  I  do  not  claim  that  the 
Jew  is  any  better  than  any  other  American,  but  he  is 
as  good  as  the  best  and  his  worst  enemy  can  truth 
fully  say  no  less  of  him. 

Cordially  yours, 

(Signed)     T.  V.  POWDERLY. 
To  Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

President  Roosevelt  was  deeply  interested  in  this 
classification  controversy,  and  expressed  to  me  after- 


264  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

wards  that  it  seemed  to  be  somewhat  of  a  moot 
question  as  to  the  proper  classification. 

Some  of  these  opinions  were  reprinted  in  the  brief 
in  Matter  of  Skaratsoski,  prepared  by  Max  J.  Kohler 
and  Abram  I.  Elkus  and  reprinted  in  behalf  of  the 
American  Jewish  Committee,  The  Union  of  Ameri 
can  Hebrew  Congregations  and  the  I.  0.  B.  B.  in  the 
"Immigration  Commission  Reports,"  Vol.  41,  pages 
178-9,  and  the  argument  was  carried  further  before 
that  Commission  by  Judge  Mack  and  myself  (pages 
265-93). 

THE  PASSPORT  QUESTION 

The  Board  of  Delegates  on  Civil  and  Religious 
Rights  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congrega 
tions  intending  to  hold  a  meeting  in  Washington,  on 
November  17,  1903,  for  the  consideration  of  many 
important  questions  then  pending,  deemed  it  neces 
sary  that  a  committee  of  said  Board  should  wait 
upon  the  President  and  Secretary  of  State  in  the 
matter  of  the  Passport  controversy.  Accordingly,  on 
October  13,  1903,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Presi 
dent,  to  the  following  effect: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  October  13,  1903. 
To  the  President: 

The  Board  of  Delegates  on  Civil  and  Religious 
Rights  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congrega 
tions  will  convene  in  this  city  on  Wednesday  and 
Thursday,  the  18th  and  19th  day  of  November.  The 
questions  to  be  submitted  to  the  said  Board  are  of  the 
very  first  and  most  vital  importance  concerning  the 
American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith,  and  the  Board 
authorizes  me  to  request  an  audience  with  you  on 
either  one  of  those  two  days,  to  bring  to  your  atten- 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  265 

tion  some  of  the  matters  in  which  you  have  taken 
an  interest.  You  will  oblige  me  very  much  by  tell 
ing  me  at  an  early  day  which  of  those  two  days  and 
at  what  hour  the  Board  will  have  the  honor  of  pay 
ing  their  respects  to  you,  and  to  have  audience  as 
above  stated. 

Dear  Mr.  President,  understand  that  this  Board  is 
thoroughly  patriotic,  and  is  most  desirous  to  aid  you 
and  your  able  Secretary  of  State,  to  the  end  that  the 
friction  now  existing  and  the  criticism  now  indulged 
may  disappear,  and  a  better  understanding  be  had 
at  home  and  abroad. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

The  interview  was  granted,  and  the  time  for  such 
hearing  was  set  for  eleven  o'clock,  November  18th. 
Our  committee  first  waited  upon  Secretary  of  State 
John  Hay.  I  stated  that  we  desired  to  pay  our  re 
spects  and  to  acknowledge  our  appreciation  for  what 
had  been  done  in  the  past  for  the  securing  of  equal 
rights  to  all  American  citizens  in  every  foreign 
country  regardless  of  their  religious  affiliations  or 
other  conditions,  and  to  solicit  their  careful  and 
sympathetic  consideration  of  weighty  matters  that 
would  be  laid  before  them  in  the  near  future.  Mr. 
Hay's  reply  conveyed  the  assurance  that  the  request 
made  for  equal  treaty  rights  to  all  American  citizens 
without  regard  to  their  religious  affiliations  would, 
when  officially  made,  receive  his  hearty  support,  and 
that  every  effort  would  be  made  by  the  department 
to  secure  its  granting  by  all  foreign  countries. 

We  then  proceeded  to  the  White  House.  In  intro 
ducing  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Delegates  to 
the  President,  I  stated: 


266  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

"Mr.  President,  I  take  great  pleasure  in  introduc 
ing  to  you  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Delegates  on 
Civil  and  Religious  Rights  of  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations.  We  have  called  to  pay  our 
respects  to  the  Chief  Magistrate,  and  to  assure  you, 
sir,  of  our  sincere  and  earnest  support  on  the  lines 
of  patriotism  and  civic  endeavor.  Our  meeting  in 
this  city  is  to  deliberate  calmly  and  judicially  on  the 
important  American  questions,  and  when  a  conclu 
sion  shall  have  been  reached  it  will  be  communi 
cated  to  you  by  a  representative  committee  of  our 
board.  Mr.  President,  we  thank  you  for  this  honor." 

President  Roosevelt  replied: 

"Mr.  Wolf,  I  want  through  you  to  extend  my 
greetings  to  all  of  these  gentlemen,  and  say  how 
glad  I  am  to  see  them  here.  There  are  certain  old 
friends  among  them  with  whom  I  have  fought  and 
bled  in  the  past.  I  speak  but  the  bare  truth  when  I 
say  that  there  can  be  no  body  of  citizens  of  whose 
devotion  to  the  welfare  of  our  common  country  I 
feel  more  assured  than  I  do  of  the  body  thus  repre 
sented,  and  no  body  from  whom  I  would  more 
gladly  hear,  for  I  know  that  whatever  I  get  from 
them  will  be  on  the  line  of  making  things  better  for 
all  of  our  people.  It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  see  you." 

During  President  Roosevelt's  administration  many 
complaints  were  made  as  to  the  treatment  of  immi 
grants  at  Ellis  Island,  and  as  to  the  drastic  ruling  by 
the  Board  of  Inquiry.  The  President  having  his 
attention  called  to  this,  promptly  ordered  a  board  to 
convene  and  examine  into  the  charges. 

I  was  invited  to  be  present  and  give  testimony  and 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  267 

make  suggestions.  After  an  exhaustive  statement 
which  is  too  lengthy  to  embody,  the  Chairman  said, 
"Mr.  Wolf,  we  congratulate  you.  If  every  national 
ity  and  creed  had  such  intelligent  and  enthusiastic 
spokesmen,  the  country  would  be  vastly  benefited." 

There  was  another  hearing  at  Ellis  Island  a  year 
later  at  which  I  was  present.  The  outcome  was 
most  satisfactory  and  led  to  salutary  reforms. 

President  Roosevelt  very  kindly  appointed  my  son 
as  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Porto 
Rico  without  any  solicitation  on  my  part,  a  position 
he  still  holds.  He  remarked  to  me  afterwards,  "I 
appointed  him  on  account  of  his  merits,  reinforced 
by  the  recommendation  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  while  I  highly  esteem  you, 
I  should  never  have  appointed  him  had  I  not  felt 
confident  that  he  would  do  justice  to  the  position." 

I  brought  to  President  Roosevelt's  attention  the 
matter  of  a  young  man  for  whom  I  wished  to  get  an 
appointment  in  the  Navy.  The  President  promptly 
referred  me  to  Mr.  Moody,  then  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  having  sent  the  following  to  the  Secretary: 

White  House, 

June  19,  1903. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

Please  have  Mr.  Simon  Wolf  in  to  go  over  this 
case  with  you.  Mr.  Wolf  is  as  good  an  American 
citizen  as  is  to  be  found  on  this  continent,  and  if 
this  can  properly  be  done,  I  should  like  it.  Please 
have  him  in  to  talk  to  you. 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 
Hon.  W.  H.  Moody, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


268  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Accordingly  I  saw  the  Secretary,  and  after  a 
lengthy  conference  he  took  the  matter  under  consid 
eration  and  subsequently  complied  with  my  request. 

On  the  21st  of  July,  1903,  at  the  request  of  The 
New  Century,  a  paper  published  in  Washington  in 
the  interest  of  the  Catholic  Church,  I  wrote  the  fol 
lowing  tribute  to  Pope  Leo,  and  in  view  of  the  warm 
approval  of  my  expressions,  made  to  me  by  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt,  I  include  it  here: 

I  wish  through  the  New  Century  to  pay  a  tribute 
to  a  wise  ruler,  a  great  man,  liberal  and  just.  Gath 
ered  to  his  fathers,  soon  to  rest  'neath  the  sod  he  so 
grandly  honored,  Leo,  the  man,  scholar,  philosopher, 
ruler,  priest  and  sovereign  will  live  in  the  affections, 
not  only  of  the  Church  he  adorned  and  loved,  but 
also  in  the  reverent  admiration  of  all  men. 

He  typified  the  age,  he  was  progressive  and  liberal, 
and  yet  clung  with  deathless  tenacity  to  the  tenets 
and  principles  of  his  Church.  His  power  and 
strength  were  never  used  to  enslave  or  persecute. 
On  the  contrary,  he  exercised  both  to  humanize.  I, 
the  Jew,  extend  my  hand  in  friendly  recognition, 
esteeming  it  a  privilege  to  pay  a  slight  tribute  to  one 
who,  in  the  highest  walk  of  life,  never  forgot  or 
ignored  the  lowly. 

He  portrayed,  not  only  in  faith,  but  in  living  work, 
the  divine  truths  of  the  Great  I  Am.  May  his  great 
and  beneficent  example  live  to  help  all  men  in  their 
onward  and  upward  career  of  brotherhood. 

July  21,  1903. 

At  the  time  I  was  elected  president  of  the  Inde 
pendent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  to  fill  the  vacancy  by 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  269 

the  untimely  death  of  Leo  N.  Levi,  the  President 
wrote  me  the  following  letter  of  congratulation: 

White  House,  Washington, 

April  5,  1904. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  congratulate  you  and  I  congratulate  the  Indepen 
dent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith  upon  your  election  to  the 
presidency.  You  know  how  cordial  our  relations 
have  always  been  and  what  a  pleasure  it  has  been 
to  confer  with  you  on  matters  affecting  the  public 
welfare. 

Wishing  you  all  success,  I  am, 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

To  which  letter  I  answered  as  follows: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  April  26,  1904. 
To  the  President. 

My  Dear  Mr.  President: 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  your  very  kind  and  friendly  letter,  in  which  you 
congratulate  me  and  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai 
B'rith,  to  my  election  as  President.  I  am  simply 
voicing  the  opinion  of  the  said  organization,  and  in 
deed  of  all  true  lovers  of  humanity,  when  I  say  that 
not  only  your  words  but  your  acts,  give  evidence  that 
you  are  the  worthy  and  patriotic  representative  of 
the  American  people.  Let  me  hope  and  pray  for 
your  health  and  happiness,  to  the  end  of  doing  still 
grander  work  for  the  welfare  of  the  Republic. 

Yours  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 


270  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

In  September,  1904,  I  made  a  trans-continental 
trip  in  behalf  of  the  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  and  the 
President,  when  informed  of  my  intention,  instructed 
the  several  departments  of  the  Government  to  send 
me  letters  of  introduction  and  commendation  to 
various  representative  citizens  in  the  different  cities 
where  I  anticipated  visiting,  especially  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  all  of  which  was  done  without  my  solicitation. 

At  the  time  of  the  canvass  for  the  election  of  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt  in  1904,  Mr.  George  B.  Gortelyou 
being  Chairman  of  the  Campaign  Committee,  with 
headquarters  at  New  York,  I  suggested  to  President 
Roosevelt  a  certain  line  of  action  in  regard  to  the 
campaign,  which  he  thought  worthy  of  being  adopted 
and  gave  me  in  his  own  handwriting  the  following 
note: 

Dear  Mr.  Cortelyou : 

I  hope  you  can  do  as  Mr.  Wolf  wishes.  I  think  it 
would  be  excellent. 

f.  ROOSEVELT. 

Aug.  5,  1904. 

Mr.  Cortelyou,  whom  I  saw,  adopted  my  sugges 
tion,  and  it  was  of  great  value  in  the  result  of  the 
campaign. 

The  following  parallel  between  Lincoln  and 
Roosevelt,  after  the  latter's  inauguration,  and  in  con 
sequence  of  which  I  received  many  letters  of  con 
gratulation,  and  the  personal  thanks  of  President 
Roosevelt  explains  itself: 

The  inauguration  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  as  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  brings  to  my  mind  most 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  271 

forcibly  the  first  inauguration  I  ever  saw,  namely, 
that  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1865 
— just  forty  years  ago. 

Then  we  were  at  the  close  of  the  fraternal  strife, 
and  the  country  and  its  institutions  were  under 
terrific  strains.  I  can  yet  hear  the  immortal  words 
of  the  martyred  President  when  he  declared,  "With 
malice  for  none,  and  charity  to  all,"  which  were 
symbolical  and  typical  of  his  character  and  achieve 
ments. 

Soon  after  these  memorable  words  had  gone  into 
history  the  assassin  struck  him  down,  and  he  was 
transformed  into  one  of  the  great  immortals  of  all 
time. 

Forty  years  of  American  history  mean  as  much  as 
three  hundred  years  of  European;  for  in  that  time 
wonderful  evolution  has  come,  not  only  along  the 
lines  of  peace,  but  of  war.  Great  inventions  and  dis 
coveries  have  been  made;  much  has  been  done  to 
vindicate  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  nation;  civiliza 
tion  itself  has  been  advanced  and  intensified;  we 
have  aided  in  establishing  a  sister  Republic,  and  have 
driven  from  American  soil  a  power  that  persecuted 
and  destroyed  its  best  citizens.  The  Government  of 
the  United  States  is  now  recognized  as  an  arbiter  in 
the  council  of  nations;  its  advice  is  sought  and 
heeded;  and  the  flag  of  our  country,  which  was 
scarcely  visible  in  any  part  of  the  world  ten  years 
ago,  is  now  floating  at  the  masthead  of  a  navy  that 
has  the  power  of  enforcing  its  dictum,  and  com 
mands  the  respect  and  homage  of  all  nations.  A 
new  statesmanship  along  the  lines  of  diplomacy,  the 
recognition  of  manhood,  and  enforcement  of  the 
laws  of  right  and  justice,  has  been  incorporated  into 


272  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

the  public  policy  of  the  incoming  President.  A  type 
of  all  that  is  manly,  virile,  scholarly,  and  patriotic. 
Theodore  Roosevelt  will  inaugurate  a  new  era  in  the 
life  of  the  Republic.  Fearless,  energetic,  far-seeing, 
with  a  consciousness  of  his  own  resources,  he  will 
bring  into  the  public  arena  men  of  his  own  type  and 
genius,  and  give  an  impulse  and  impetus  for  the 
future  of  our  country  unequaled  in  its  annals. 

I  rejoice  to  have  seen  this  great  day.  Forty  years 
have  gone  into  history  from  Lincoln  to  Roosevelt. 
I  have  been  intimate  with  all  the  great  men  of  that 
period  and  rejoice  to  know  that  during  this  whole 
time  the  American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith  have  con 
tributed  in  every  direction  toward  the  upbuilding 
and  prosperity  of  this  great  Republic,  and  not  one 
among  the  eighty  millions  who  will  cheer  and  en 
courage  the  incoming  President  will  be  more  sincere 
and  devoted  than  we. 

We  honor  him  as  Americans;  we  love  him  as  Jews. 
He  has  shown  at  every  opportunity  that  he  is  broad- 
gauged,  liberal,  and  unprejudiced.  No  one  but  a 
great  statesman  and  sincere  patriot  would  have 
waited  until  after  his  election  to  give  utterance  to 
those  ringing  words  to  Russia,  and  they  will  be  as 
enduring  as  the  country  itself,  for  they  bore  the 
stamp  and  impress  not  only  of  the  President,  but  of 
the  man  and  friend. 

What  a  happy  and  glorious  contrast  the  inaugu 
ration  of  the  President  of  eighty  millions  of  Ameri 
can  citizens  is,  compared  with  the  gloomy  and 
wretched  revolutionary  days  that  exist  in  Russia, 
where  men  and  women  are  not  permitted  to  enjoy 
these  privileges  and  immunities  that  constitute 
American  manhood  and  womanhood. 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  273 

May  the  next  four  years,  and,  indeed,  many,  many 
more,  vindicate  all  of  the  glories  of  the  past  and 
illume  still  brighter  the  horizon  of  our  country's 
greatness,  and  may  we,  who  have  been  persecuted 
in  all  lands  and  have  been  compelled  to  fight  for 
every  country,  save  our  own,  never  fail  to  recognize 
the  opportunity  that  is  offered  us  under  the  inspiring 
and  glorious  institutions  under  which  we  so  happily 
live. 

At  the  time  of  the  criticism  on  account  of  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt  having  given  Booker  T.  Washington 
at  the  White  House  a  luncheon,  I  sent  to  The  Wash 
ington  Post  the  following  communication: 

Why  all  this  fuss  about  Booker  T.  Washington 
and  President  Roosevelt?  In  what  way  has  the 
President  acted  wrongly?  He  has  consistently  been 
a  liberal,  an  aggressive  fighter,  a  man  who,  as  a 
thorough  American,  knows  no  color,  race,  religion 
or  nationality.  He  simply  puts  into  practice  the 
principles  of  his  life;  therefore,  Booker  T.  Washing 
ton  was  the  private  guest  of  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
who  recognized  in  him  merit,  the  keystone  of  the 
political  and  social  arch  of  American  citizenship. 

If  the  President  in  his  official  or  personal  capacity 
never  does  anything  else  than  this  incident,  he  will 
surely  live  in  history  as  a  man  of  courage  and 
splendid  Americanism.  No  man  in  this  great  repub 
lic  is  to  be  tabooed  on  account  of  color  or  religion. 
The  President  is  not  the  representative  of  the  white 
man  or  of  the  Christian,  but  of  all  men,  Christian 
and  Jew,  white  and  black. 

Booker  T.  Washington  is  an  American  gentleman, 


274  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

a  thinker,  scholar,  educator,  reformer — one  who  is  a 
friend,  not  only  of  his  own  race,  but  of  the  South. 

Frederick  Douglas  and  John  M.  Langston  were 
guests  at  my  house.  The  memory  of  the  wonderful 
mental  resources  of  these  men  lingers,  and  is  an  in 
spiration.  It  is  true  if  we  are  to  be  a  world  power 
that  we  manifest  socially  what  we  proclaim,  polit 
ically,  the  recognition  of  the  men  who  merit  it  by 
act  and  deed.  These  wise  critics  ignore  the  teach 
ings  of  Jefferson  and  forget  the  golden  principles  of 
the  matchless  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Prejudice  based  on  ignorance  and  custom  is  hard 
to  kill,  but  it  will  have  to  die,  and  the  manly  blow 
dealt  by  President  Roosevelt  will  be  an  entering 
wedge. 

It  is  the  man,  not  the  negro — it  is  the  high-thinking 
American  who  is  recognized,  and  that  is  the  basic 
rock  of  American  institutions,  and  any  departure 
therefrom  is  unworthy  of  the  republic. 

God  bless  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  Presi 
dent.  I  know  he  is  far  above  the  petty  criticisms  of 
unthinking  and  prejudiced  men.  Let  him  pursue  as 
Chief  Magistrate  the  same  rules  of  private  and  pub 
lic  conduct  that  endear  him  to  all  true  citizens,  and 
history  will  write  him  down  as  a  worthy  successor 
of  Lincoln. 

Two  days  after  sending  this  letter  to  the  Post, 
I  received  the  following  note  from  President  Roose 
velt: 

"I  have  just  read  your  admirable  article  in  the 
matter  of  the  Booker  T.  Washington  luncheon  at  the 
White  House.  It  gratified  me  exceedingly  to  know 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  275 

that  you  of  all  men  appreciate  this  act  of  mine  and 
emphasizes  the  liberal  spirit  that  has  always  ani 
mated  you  in  private  and  public  life." 

In  this  connection,  the  great  American  wit,  Dooley, 
the  Sunday  after  this  Booker  T.  Washington  incident, 
said  to  his  friend  Hennesey: 

"Hennesey,  do  you  know  that  was  a  great  political 
blunder  on  the  part  of  President  Roosevelt?"  And 
Hennesey  replied,  "Yes,  but  why?" 

Dooley :  "Because  it  will  cost  Roosevelt  seven  hun 
dred  thousand  votes  in  the  South  which  he  wouldn't 
have  gotten  anyhow." 

The  question  of  books  on  religion  in  the  public 
schools  became  a  very  prominent  factor  during  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  the  following 
article,  which  I  wrote  for  The  Washington  Times, 
explains  itself: 

To  the  Editor  of  The  Washington  Times: 

I  had  hoped  that  after  the  expressions  made  at  the 
first  meeting  that  the  agitation  incident  to  introduc 
ing  religious  teaching  in  the  public  schools  would 
cease  and  the  subcommittee  which  was  intrusted 
with  the  matter  would  arrive  at  that  conclusion;  but 
it  seems  during  my  absence  from  the  city  another 
meeting  was  had  and  the  resolutions  reported  were 
adopted  by  a  majority  and  the  conclusion  of  that 
majority  has  been  forwarded  to  the  Board  of  Educa 
tion  of  the  District  of  Columbia  asking  them  to  take 
favorable  action. 

This  agitation  is  not  new  in  history  nor  is  it  for 
eign  to  the  wishes  of  certain  ministers  of  Christian 


276  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

belief.  Periodically  and  spasmodically  the  question 
is  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  public  and,  like 
Banquo's  ghost,  "It  will  not  down."  Curious  it  is, 
but  nevertheless  true,  that  this  spirit  made  itself 
dominant  and  manifest  by  the  very  men  who  fled 
from  persecution,  and  as  has  been  wittily  said  by 
the  late  Senator  Hoar,  "The  Puritans,  when  they 
landed  on  Plymouth  Rock,  fell  first  on  their  knees 
and  then  on  the  Aborigines";  and  from  that  time  up 
to  this,  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States,  minis 
ters  of  the  gospel  of  "Peace  on  earth,  good-will  to 
men,"  have  given  utterance  to  thoughts  conducive  of 
persecution,  the  perpetuation  of  prejudice,  and  an 
utter  disregard  of  all  the  principles  upon  which  our 
Government  is  founded. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  religion  are  taught 
and  perpetuated  in  the  home  and  accentuated  in  the 
church.  No  public  instructor  of  our  educational 
system  can  instil  love  of  or  for  any  particular  faith. 
Morals,  ethics,  and  humanities,  can  and  ought  to  be 
inculcated  by  the  public  instructor,  and  no  doubt  are. 
Patriotism  for  the  flag  and  the  country  and  its  institu 
tions,  which  are  bearing  such  splendid  fruits  all  over 
our  land,  are  also  contributory  to  the  loftiest  con 
ception  of  religion  and  morality.  But  all  these  things 
have  been  brought  about  and  can  only  be  retained 
by  an  absolute  non-interference  on  the  part  of  any 
sect.  The  very  capstone  and  fundamental  ground 
work  of  American  institutions  have  their  origin  in 
that  spirit;  to  attempt  in  the  remotest  degree  to 
undermine  that  structure  is  not  only  a  crime  but  a 
blunder.  As  has  been  well  said,  and  can  not  be  too 
often  repeated,  "Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of 
liberty."  It  is  the  first  attempt  that  has  to  be  guarded 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  277 

against,  and  this  seeking  for  the  introduction  of 
religious  training  in  the  public  schools  is  a  first  step 
in  that  direction. 

To  the  student  of  history  it  is  remarkable  what  a 
close  analogy  there  is  between  the  arguments  of 
the  Reverend  Doctor,  and  those  who  side  with  him, 
with  those  attempted  by  some  of  the  Virginia  col 
onists  prior  to  the  Revolution.  In  Gaylord  Hunt's 
life  of  James  Madison,  the  early  religious  liberty  in 
Virginia  is  graphically  depicted,  and  the  fight  made 
by  Madison  and  others  shows  conclusively  that  there 
is  "nothing  new  under  the  sun,"  that  history  repeats 
itself,  and  that  which  was  deemed  essential  in  those 
days  is  again  attempted  now.  The  reasons  for  the 
legislation  of  those  days  in  matters  of  uniting  church 
and  state,  and  interference  with  religious  beliefs,  was 
"a  decline  in  church  attendance  and  an  increase  of 
immorality,  and  it  was  conceived  that  legislative 
interference  to  help  the  churches  would  improve  the 
moral  tone  of  the  people."  Could  any  words  be  more 
significant  and  apropos — almost  identical  with  the 
reasons  advanced  by  the  Doctor. 

This  question  of  church  observance  was  gone  over 
very  carefully  seventy-six  years  ago,  in  the  mem 
orable  report  made  by  Senator  Johnson  of  Kentucky, 
when  the  question  of  carrying  the  United  States 
mails  on  Sunday  was  before  that  body,  and  his 
report  was  so  clear  and  exhaustive  along  all  the 
lines  for  which  the  opponents  of  the  Doctor  are  con 
tending,  that  it  would  be  a  wise  thing  to  republish 
that  magnificent  specimen  of  American  statesman 
ship,  so  that  for  all  time  to  come  the  zealous  church 
men  will  find  better  employment  than  to  invade  the 
civil  rights  of  American  citizens. 


278  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

The  public  schools  of  our  country  have  been  looked 
upon,  and  deservedly  so,  as  the  grandest  consumma 
tion  of  human  wisdom,  and  there  being  no  doctrine 
taught,  conserves  to  their  preservation  and  to  their 
usefulness.  The  public  schools  are  part  of  the 
machinery  of  the  state.  The  taxes  to  pay  the  teachers 
and  maintain  the  system  are  derived  from  all  the 
citizens  and  not  from  any  special  class,  and  for  that 
reason,  if  for  no  other,  any  attempt  to  abridge  the 
civil  or  religious  rights  of  any  of  the  citizens  is  con 
trary  to  the  spirit  and  genius  of  our  institutions  and 
contrary  to  the  guaranteed  rights  of  the  individual 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

This  principle  has  been  brought  to  the  attention 
of  a  large  number  of  our  State  courts,  and  has  been 
invariably  sustained,  and  I  venture  the  prediction 
that  if  the  Board  of  Education  should,  through  some 
mistaken  idea  of  their  duty,  try  to  enforce  the  teach 
ing  of  religion  in  the  public  schools,  this  question 
will  be  taken  up  by  the  friends  of  American  liberty 
to  the  highest  court  of  our  land  to  be  there,  once  and 
for  all,  settled,  not  in  a  haphazard  way,  but  through 
an  exhaustive  presentation  of  all  the  precedents  and 
facts  underlying  this  important  and  vital  question. 

No  one  regrets  more  than  I  do  that  the  Doctor 
should  have  placed  himself  in  such  an  indefensible 
position,  as  far  as  his  attack  is  concerned,  with  those 
who  differ  from  him.  To  arraign  any  of  his  oppo 
nents  on  the  score  of  being  Jews  or  Adventists,  is 
unworthy  of  an  American  or  of  a  Christian  minister. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  back  in  the  '50's  when  the 
"Pluguglies"  were  burning  and  murdering  foreigners 
on  the  score  of  their  religion.  Indeed,  one  is  almost 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  279 

constrained  to  believe  that  the  good  Doctor  is  a 
worthy  descendant  of  these  know-nothings. 

The  Doctor's  case  must  be  desperate  indeed,  when 
he  assumes  an  offensive  attitude  against  those  who 
differ  from  him  in  creed  and  those  who  were  born 
on  the  shores  of  other  lands.  Yet,  what  a  paucity 
and  dearth  of  knowledge  of  American  history  does 
it  exhibit  to  claim  that  these  people  who  differ  from 
him  have  no  conception  of  the  American  idea,  that 
they  are  foreign  born,  that  they  are  aliens,  that  they 
are  Jews — when  these  very  Jews,  not  only  from  the 
founding  of  the  Government,  but  up  to  the  present 
moment,  have  contributed  their  brawn  and  brain  in 
upbuilding  this  Government,  in  peace  and  in  war 
have  stood  at  the  forefront  in  defense  of  the  flag 
and  have  aided  in  preserving  the  country  and  the 
Constitution,  when  many  of  those  to  the  manner 
born  attempted  to  destroy  both. 

But  all  argument  and  reason  fails  when  you  come 
in  contact  with  bigotry  and  prejudice.  It  is  the  old 
story  of  Lessing  in  his  immortal  "Nathan  the  Wise." 
When  the  church  patriarch  is  told  how  good  and 
noble  and  human  Nathan  had  acted,  his  invariable 
reply  was,  "It  matters  not,  the  Jew  must  be  burned !" 

It  has  been  this  way  for  many,  many  centuries, 
though  when  our  opponents  have  been  worsted  and 
public  reason  has  been  against  them,  the  last  resort 
was  to  attack  the  Jew;  which  again  reminds  me  of 
the  wise  Dogberry  of  Germany,  who,  when  a  case 
was  brought  before  him  in  which  the  plaintiff 
claimed  damages  from  the  defendant  on  account  of 
having  thrown  a  stone  which  shattered  his  window, 
the  defense  was  that  a  Jew  had  passed  in  the  street, 
and  had  he  not  dodged  the  stone  the  window  would 


280  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

not  have  been  broken — and  the  Dogberry  decided  the 
Jew  must  pay  the  damages,  which  is  identical  with 
the  reasoning  of  the  Doctor. 

But,  let  me  state,  once  and  for  all,  as  I  stated  at 
the  first  public  meeting,  and  as  I  have  stated  in  all 
my  life,  I  am  not  opposing  this  matter  from  the  stand 
point  of  my  faith,  but  from  my  inalienable  rights  as 
an  American  citizen,  pure  and  simple,  and  if  anyone 
of  my  faith  were  to  attempt  any  infraction  of  the 
civil  and  religious  rights  of  any  other  man,  I  would 
be  as  prompt  to  oppose  as  I  am  at  this  moment.  In 
short,  let  well  enough  alone! 

The  public  schools  of  our  country  are  flourishing; 
we  turn  out,  year  after  year,  magnificent  specimens 
of  manhood  and  womanhood  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  happiness  of  mankind.  Why  intrude  upon  the 
ductile  mind  of  the  young  with  doctrine  or  creed? 
May  those  who  deplore  the  increase  of  crime,  them 
selves  show  a  better  example  in  their  home  life  and 
their  religious  observance!  The  public  schools  will 
take  care  of  themselves,  and  prove,  as  they  have  so 
far  in  their  history,  the  bulwark  against  all  that  is 
vicious  and  criminal. 

Washington,  April  5,  1905. 

I  accompanied  a  committee  of  the  Rabbinical  Con 
ference  of  the  United  States  on  a  visit  to  President 
Roosevelt,  who  received  us  cordially  and  evinced  a 
degree  of  knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  kindred  sub 
jects  that  was  quite  remarkable. 

The  Evening  Star  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  published 
a  lengthy  interview  on  my  opinion  as  to  the  subject, 
*'Is  there  a  Jewish  Question?"  It  was  highly  com- 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  281 

mented  on,  and  President  Roosevelt  expressed  great 
interest  in  its  perusal. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  love  of  song  and  German  folk-lore 
was  demonstrated  when  he  invited  the  singers  who 
had  come  from  Vienna  on  a  tour  of  the  United 
States  to  be  his  guests,  and  he  listened  with  the 
greatest  interest  to  the  wonderful  rendering  of  the 
songs,  applauded  heartily,  and  then  asked  them 
whether  they  couldn't  sing  "In  Mantua,"  which  they 
did,  and  he  joined  in  with  the  glee  of  a  regular 
student. 

In  this  connection  I  remember  well  at  the  close  of 
the  Kishineff  interview  at  the  White  House. (to  which 
I  have  heretofore  made  reference),  President  Roose 
velt  went  to  Baltimore  to  the  German  Singing  Festi 
val.  He  was  accompanied  by  Baron  Sternberg,  the 
German  Ambassador;  Senator  McComas,  and  myself. 
President  Roosevelt  placed  me  in  charge  of  Major 
Charles  A.  D.  Loeffler,  who  for  forty  years  was  the 
confidential  and  efficient  doorkeeper  of  the  White 
House. 

On  our  leaving  the  hall  in  Baltimore  I  had  great 
trouble  in  keeping  up  with  the  President,  who  pushed 
his  way  through  the  dense  crowd  and  got  into  the 
carriage,  when  the  door  slammed  on  my  hand.  I  had 
terrible  pain,  but  managed  to  get  into  our  private 
car.  When  the  President  saw  what  had  happened 
he  immediately  put  a  cold  bandage  on  my  hand, 
went  to  the  locker  and  got  some  liquor  and  gave  me 
a  good  swig,  bathed  my  hand  and  forehead  like  a 
trained  nurse,  and  then  turned  around  to  Senator 
McComas  and  said,  "Inasmuch  as  Wolf  has  been 
wounded  in  the  public  service,  I  suggest  that  you 
introduce  a  bill  in  the  Senate,  pensioning  him." 


282  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ZangwilPs  "Melting  Pot"  had  its  premiere  night  at 
Belasco's  Theatre  in  Washington.  President  Roose 
velt  occupied  a  box  next  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Zangwill. 
I  never  could  tell  which  caused  the  greatest  applause, 
the  play  or  the  President.  He  kept  up  an  animated 
conversation  with  Mrs.  Zangwill,  and  was  most 
enthusiastic  over  the  lines  which  advocated  the 
absorption  of  all  classes. 

Several  days  later  the  President  told  me  he  doubted 
the  theatrical  success  of  the  play,  a  prophecy  since 
realized. 

In  the  three  volume  Year  Book  that  my  daughter, 
Mrs.  Frederick  Gotthold,  made  and  illustrated,  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt  contributed  the  following  words  of 
congratulation,  which  accompanied  his  photograph : 

"My  hearty  congratulations  to  my  friend  Simon 
Wolf." 

Having  had  an  interview  with  President  Roosevelt 
during  the  campaign  of  1908,  when  William  Howard 
Taft  was  the  candidate,  I  received  the  following 
letter: 

The  White  House,  Washington, 

October  3,  1908. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

You  can  render  important  service  in  New  York 
and  I  trust  you  will  put  yourself  at  once  in  com 
munication  with  Chairman  Hitchcock.  You  may  use 
this  note  as  an  introduction. 

With  regards  to  Mrs.  Wolf,  and  all  good  wishes  to 
yourself,  believe  me, 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
Washington,  D.  G. 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  283 

Mr.  Hitchcock  was  favorably  impressed  with  my 
suggestions  and  they  were  adopted. 

On  the  occasion  of  my  seventy-second  birthday, 
having  been  kindly  remembered  by  President  Roose 
velt,  I  sent  him  in  acknowledgment  thereof  the 
following : 

October  29,  1908. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President : 

Please  accept  my  sincere  and  heartfelt  thanks  for 
your  kind  remembrance  of  my  seventy-second  birth 
day.  In  the  midst  of  the  thousand  duties,  incident 
to  your  office,  it  certainly  was  more  than  kind  to  be 
remembered. 

I  hope  and  trust  that  when  you  reach  the  age  of 
seventy-two,  you  will  stand  in  the  world's  history 
and  in  the  affection  of  your  fellow-countrymen,  as 
you  do  today,  honored  and  revered,  for  I  know  that 
every  act  has  been  inspired  by  the  purest  motive  and 
by  the  loftiest  ideals  for  the  betterment  of  the  Repub 
lic;  and  I  do  hope  that  the  result  of  next  Tuesday 
evening's  work,  on  the  part  of  the  American  voters, 
will  endorse  all  that  you  have  striven  to  do  to  help 
the  Republic  and  to  perpetuate  its  glorious  traditions. 

Sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

After  I  read  President  Roosevelt's  wonderful  letter 
on  religious  liberty,  in  which  he  said  in  part  as 
follows : 

"No  nation  in  the  world  has  more  right  than  ours 
to  look  with  proud  confidence  toward  the  future. 
Nowhere  else  has  the  experiment  of  democratic  gov- 


284  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ernment,  of  government  by  the  people  and  for  the 
people,  of  government  based  on  the  principle  of 
treating  each  man  on  his  innate  worth  as  a  man, 
been  tried  on  so  vast  a  scale  as  with  us;  and,  on  the 
whole,  the  experiment  has  been  more  successful  than 
anywhere  else.  Moreover,  on  the  whole,  I  think  it 
can  be  said  that  we  have  grown  better  and  not  worse; 
for  if  there  is  much  evil,  good  also  greatly  abounds, 
and  if  wrong  grows,  so  in  even  greater  measure  grows 
the  stern  sense  of  right  before  which  wrong  must 
eventually  yield.  It  would  be  both  unmanly  and  un 
warranted  to  become  faint-hearted  or  despairing 
about  the  nation's  future.  Clear-eyed  and  far- 
sighted  men  who  are  brave  of  heart  and  cool  of 
head,  while  not  for  a  moment  refusing  to  see  and 
acknowledge  the  many  evils  around  us,  must  yet 
also  feel  a  confident  assurance  that  in  the  struggle 
we  shall  win  and  not  lose,  that  the  century  that  has 
just  opened  will  see  great  triumph  for  our  people." 

I  took  the  liberty  of  sending  him  these  few  lines: 

November  9,  1908. 
The  President: 

You  have  done  many  things  that  will  transmit 
your  name  to  future  generations,  and  which  will  no 
doubt  fill  numerous  pages  in  American  history,  but 
not  a  single  act  of  yours  will  redound  more  to  your 
glory  and  fame,  than  the  letter  you  have  just  written 
on  religious  liberty.  It  is  luminous,  clear  and  thor 
oughly  American.  It  breathes  the  spirit  of  Wash 
ington,  Roger  Williams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Madison, 
and  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  I  know  of  no  state  paper 
in  the  archives  of  our  Government,  that  surpasses  it; 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  285 

and  I  heartily  and  sincerely  congratulate,  not  only 
you  but  the  Nation.  It  is  a  more  opportune  time  for 
these  words  to  come  home  to  the  sane-thinking 
Americans.  There  has  lately  developed  a  spirit  of 
bigotry  and  false  thinking,  that  if  permitted  to  go 
unchecked,  would  prove  inimical  and  dangerous  to 
the  Republic,  and  these  words  of  yours,  while  they 
simply  reaffirm,  nevertheless  are  worth  their  weight 
in  gold. 

Sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

During  Mr.  Roosevelt's  administration,  I  appeared 
before  the  Senate  Committee  in  the  matter  of  the 
Chinese  Exclusion  Act  and  made  a  lengthy  argument 
against  such  drastic  and  unjust  legislation.  Mrs. 
Coolidge,  in  her  book,  speaks  of  my  address  in  the 
following  manner : 

"Rut  by  far  the  broadest  argument  was  made  by 
Simon  Wolf,  Chairman  of  the  Civil  and  Religious 
Rights  Committee  of  the  Hebrew  Congregations,  and 
of  the  Independent  Order  of  R'nai  R'rith.  Mr.  Wolf 
summed  up  his  humane  and  convincing  testimony 
briefly  as  follows:  'The  exclusion  laws  were  unjust 
because  discriminative;  objectionable,  because  the 
general  immigration  laws  might  be  applied  to  the 
Chinese  precisely  as  to  other  nationalities;  unneces 
sary  for  the  protection  of  labor,  because  most  of  the 
evils  complained  of  were  purely  imaginary;  unneces 
sary  further,  because  the  economic  conditions  both 
in  the  United  States  and  in  China  had  wholly  changed 
— the  gold  fever  had  passed,  while  the  rapid  develop 
ment  of  China  herself  tended  to  keep  her  laboring 


286  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

population  at  home.  The  exclusion  laws  were  a 
menace  to  peaceful  relations  between  the  two  coun 
tries,  they  handicapped  the  American  missionary  and 
the  American  merchant  and  limited  trade  and  com 
merce.  They  were,  moreover,  contrary  to  the  spirit 
of  American  institutions  and  to  the  spirit  of  the  age, 
for  the  period  of  exclusiveness  was  past.' " 

During  the  time  that  Mr.  Straus  was  Secretary  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  an  illuminating  incident 
occurred,  which  I  wish  to  relate,  that  does  justice 
both  to  the  Secretary,  as  well  as  to  the  President. 
One  of  the  heads  of  a  bureau,  with  whom  I  was  very 
intimate,  had  died,  leaving  his  family  in  financial 
straits.  The  widow,  unfortunately,  could  not  pass 
the  Civil  Service,  and  the  only  way  she  could  be 
appointed  to  the  Census  Bureau,  was  by  an  Executive 
Order,  the  President  waiving  the  examination.  I 
called  Mr.  Straus'  attention  to  the  matter,  the  official 
having  been  one  of  his  subordinates,  and  asked  him 
to  speak  to  President  Roosevelt  on  and  in  behalf  of 
the  unfortunate  widow.  The  Secretary  promptly 
declined,  not  for  want  of  interest  or  feeling,  but 
because  the  President  had  been  annoyed  by  numerous 
requests  of  the  same  character.  He  very  generously 
offered  to  give  me  five  hundred  dollars  to  aid  the 
widow,  and  finally  concluded  his  interview  by  stat 
ing,  "Why  don't  you  go  to  see  the  President?  He 
thinks  very  highly  of  you  and  might  possibly  do  this 
for  you,  and  as  you  more  than  likely  have  not  made 
a  similar  request  of  him,  he  might  not  feel  annoyed." 
I  said,  "It  is  a  very  curious  thing  that  a  member  of 
the  Cabinet  should  ask  an  outsider  to  do  that  which 
is  his  province  to  do,  but  I  will  nevertheless  take 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  287 

your  advice."  I  wrote  this  letter  to  the  President, 
detailing  all  the  facts. 

December  3,  1908. 
The  President, 

I  hoped  to  be  spared  the  necessity  of  writing  to 

you  in  the  matter  of  Mrs.  -   ,  trusting  that  the 

officials  who  had  been  in  close  touch  with  Mr. 

would  bring  the  matter  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion, 
but  to  my  keen  regret,  I  find  that  nothing  of  a  tan 
gible  character  has  been  done. 

Mr.  President,  I  am  sure  you  will  pardon  me  if  I 
state  that,  in  my  whole  lifetime,  I  have  never  been 
so  deeply  touched  as  at  the  deplorable  condition  of 
this  unfortunate  widow  and  her  orphan  child. 
Mr. ,  as  you  are  aware,  left  his  family  penni 
less — generous  to  a  fault,  his  hand  was  constantly 
in  his  pocket  to  help  the  suffering  laboring  men  over 
whom  he  presided,  and  in  aid  of  immigrants  in  all 
the  stations  that  he  visited.  He  could  not  get  any 
life  insurance,  and  thus  his  family  have  been  left  in 
a  deplorable  condition;  and  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  good  feeling  on  part  of  the  employes  at  Ellis 
Island,  there  would  not  have  been  money  enough  to 
pay  the  funeral  expenses  and  doctor  bills. 

Mrs. has  now  been  compelled  to  give  up  her 

small  apartment,  not  being  able  to  pay  the  rent,  and 
the  agents  from  whom  they  rented  the  apartment 
have  threatened  to  attach  what  little  furniture  she 
has  to  reimburse  themselves  for  the  unpaid  rent. 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  recognizing  the 
important  work  that  Mr. did  during  his  life 
time,  and  which  added  materially  to  the  glory 
of  your  administration,  it  does  seem  to  me  that 


288  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Mrs.  -  -  ought  to  be  provided  for  in  one  of  the 
departments  of  the  Government,  to  the  end  of  her 
not  becoming  a  public  charge.  I  know  that  in  cases 
not  half  so  deserving,  widows  of  employes  of  the 
Government  have  been  placed  in  positions  of  trust 
and  responsibility  by  Executive  Order. 

My  dear  Mr.  President,  will  you  not  take  a  per 
sonal  interest  in  this  matter.  Of  course  you  are 
aware  that  I  am  solely  actuated  as  a  matter  of 
humanity  and  loyal  friendship  both  to  the  living  and 
to  the  dead. 

Sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

Mr.  William  Loeb,  his  Private  Secretary,  told  me 
afterwards  that  when  the  President  read  my  letter 
he  was  deeply  touched  and  at  once  directed  the 
issuing  of  the  Executive  Order,  and  the  good  woman 
was  appointed,  and  subsequently  would  have  been 
reduced  on  account  of  her  inexperience  and  inability 
to  do  her  work  properly  had  it  not  been  for  my  inter 
ference.  She  has  since  then,  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
passed  away. 

I  received  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Inter 
state  Commerce  Commission  in  regard  to  Mrs.  — 
case,  which  I  give  herewith,  and  following  that  also 
my  letter  of  thanks  to  the  President: 

December  12,  1908. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Today,  on  receiving  a  copy  of  the  Executive  Order 
in  regard  to  the  widow  of  our  departed  friend, 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  289 

I  called  on  Mr.  Straus,  Secretary  of  the  Department 
of  Commerce  and  Labor,  to  thank  him  for  what  I 
thought  he  must  have  done  in  regard  to  the  matter. 
He  tells  me,  however,  that  it  was  your  earnest  effort 
which  brought  the  subject  to  the  attention  of  our 
Executive.  I  therefore  wish  to  express  to  you  my 
intense  gratification  and  to  thank  you  for  the  serv 
ice  you  have  rendered  for  so  worthy  a  person,  the 
memory  of  whose  husband  I  shall  always  warmly 
cherish. 

Sincerely  yours, 

EDW.  A.  MOSELY. 

December  14,  1908. 
The  President: 

On  and  in  behalf  of  Mrs. ,  as  well  as  myself, 

I  wish  to  thank  you  for  the  Executive  Order  which 
placed  her  on  the  Government  rolls  as  one  of  its 
employes.  Be  assured  that  this  act  of  yours  is  sin 
cerely  and  heartily  appreciated,  and  would  never 
have  been  asked  for  had  not  the  circumstances  been 
of  a  character  to  require  your  intercession. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  is  a  born  fighter.  His  impulses, 
as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  judge,  are  inspired  by 
the  loftiest  conception  of  public  duty.  He  is  ambi 
tious,  and  that  is  not  a  crime.  Conscious  of  his  own 
power,  he  fears  no  adversary. 

George  F.  Parker,  Esq.,  in  his  biography  of  Grover 
Cleveland,  quotes  the  estimate  Mr.  Cleveland  enter 
tained  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  when  he  (Cleveland) 
was  Governor,  and  Roosevelt  was  a  member  of  the 
New  York  Assembly.  Said  quotation  is  as  follows: 


290  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

"Roosevelt  is  the  most  perfectly  equipped  and  the 
most  effective  politician  thus  far  seen  in  the  Presi 
dency.  Jackson,  Jefferson  and  Van  Buren  were  not, 
for  a  moment,  comparable  with  him  in  this  respect. 
When  I  was  Governor,  he  was  still  a  very  young  man 
and  only  a  member  of  the  Assembly;  but  it  was 
clear  to  me,  even  thus  early,  that  he  was  looking  to 
a  public  career,  that  he  was  studying  political  con 
ditions  with  a  care  that  I  had  never  known  any  man 
to  show  and  that  he  was  firmly  convinced  that  he 
would  some  day  reach  prominence.  I  must,  how 
ever,  confess  that  I  never  supposed  that  the  Presi 
dency  would  come  within  the  scope  of  his  aspira 
tions  so  early  in  life." 

I  am  confident  that  as  Burns  said  "for  a'  that  and 
a'  that"  Theodore  Roosevelt  will  stand  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States  as  one  of  its  greatest  men.  Won 
derfully  endowed,  gifted  by  nature,  education,  and 
indomitable  will-power,  his  example  as  a  statesman 
will  be  an  inspiration  for  many  years  to  come.  His 
treatment  of  international  questions,  reinforced  by 
the  effective  co-operation  of  John  Hay,  will  live  and 
be  used  as  a  precedent  throughout  all  time. 

Up  to  the  present  moment,  from  the  time  of  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt's  retirement  from  the  White  House, 
our  relations  have  been  most  cordial.  Many  items  of 
interest,  not  only  personal  but  public,  have  been  dis 
cussed  exhaustively  between  us.  Some  of  these  let 
ters  from  him  are  thoroughly  characteristic  and,  if 
ever  published,  would  afford  additional  testimony 
to  his  remarkable  memory,  his  breadth  of  thought, 
and  his  virility  of  action. 

The  following  is  the  tribute  paid  to  me  by  ex- 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  291 

President  Roosevelt  on  the  occasion  of  the  banquet 
tendered  to  me  by  my  New  York  friends  in  honor 
of  my  eightieth  birthday: 

Sagamore  Hill, 

November  17,  1916. 

To  my  great  regret  I  can  not  attend  the  banquet 
in  honor  of  my  valued  friend,  Simon  Wolf;  he  is  a 
citizen  worthy  of  such  an  honor;  may  I,  through  you, 
extend  to  him  my  heartiest  congratulations  and  good 
wishes  ? 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 


WILLIAM  HOWARD  TAFT 

I  knew  Mr.  Taft's  father,  Alonzo  Taft,  when  he 
was  Secretary  of  War  and  Attorney  General  under 
President  Grant.  Thus  I  felt  a  sense  of  intimacy 
and  appreciation  during  the  time  that  Mr.  Taft  filled 
various  offices  of  the  Government,  including  that  of 
the  Presidency,  a  feeling  of  regard  and  friendship 
which  has  continued  since  his  retirement  from  office. 

I  had  the  good  fortune  and  privilege  of  meeting 
Mr.  Taft  often,  not  only  in  the  White  House  but  at 
social  functions,  and  always  enjoyed  his  remarkably 
genial  good  humor,  his  sound  logical  sense,  although 
I  never  could  admire  his  conception  of  duty  to  his 
political  adherents.  His  mind  was  thoroughly  judi 
cial,  his  temperament  no  less,  and  as  he  himself  one 
day  told  me,  he  never  did  desire  to  be  President, 
but  would  rather  have  been  on  the  Supreme  Court 
Bench,  which  position  he  unquestionably  would  have 
filled  with  signal  ability. 

There  were  various  questions  of  vital  import 
pending  during  Mr.  Taft's  administration,  including 
the  non-recognition  of  the  American  passport  by 
the  Russian  Government,  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty 
between  the  two  Governments  made  by  James  Buch 
anan  in  1832,  and  the  vetoing  of  the  Immigration  Bill 
on  account  of  the  literacy  test,  wherein  President 
Taft  showed  his  good  will  and  his  high  appreciation 
of  his  fellow  citizens. 

During  the  agitation  for  the  abrogation  of  the 
Russian  treaty  I  had  many  talks  with  President 
Taft;  at  the  conclusion  of  one  of  these  he  asked  me 
what  I  advised  him  to  do,  so  as  to  get  a  clear  under- 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT 
1909-1913 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  293 

standing.  I  promptly  replied,  "Have  a  conference 
with  some  of  the  leaders  of  American  Jewry."  The 
President  said,  "An  excellent  suggestion.  Whom  do 
you  name?"  I  replied,  "Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Mayer 
Sulzberger  and  Louis  Marshall  of  the  American  Jew 
ish  Committee;  Adolf  Kraus,  Philip  Stein  and  Jacob 
Furth,  of  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith; 
Bernard  Bettman,  J.  Walter  Freiberg" — and  before 
I  could  name  the  third  he  said,  "and  Simon  Wolf, 
of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations." 
A  luncheon  was  to  precede  the  conference.  The 
President  then  and  there  instructed  his  secretary  to 
telegraph  to  each  one,  apprising  them  of  the  lunch 
eon  and  conference. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  invitation: 

White  House,  Feb.  8,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

The  President  would  be  glad  to  have  you  take 
lunch  with  him  at  the  White  House  on  Wednesday, 
February  15th,  at  one-thirty,  for  a  conference,  at 
which  will  be  present,  if  they  accept  his  telegraphic 
invitations:  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Louis  Marshall,  Judge 
Mayer  Sulzberger,  Adolf  Kraus,  Judge  Philip  Stein, 
Jacob  Furth,  J.  Walter  Freiberg,  and  Bernhard  Bett 
man,  as  also  Secretary  Knox  and  Secretary  Nagel. 
Will  you  be  good  enough  to  advise  me  whether  you 
can  be  present? 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  D.  NORTON, 

Secretary  to  the  President. 

The  invitation  was  accepted. 

Judge  Sulzberger  was  unable  to  be  present  on  ac 
count  of  a  previous  engagement.  Judge  Henry  M. 
Goldfogle  was  also  present.  Prior  to  going  to  the 


294  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE    KNOWN 

White  House,  a  conference  was  held  as  to  the  spokes 
man.  The  luncheon,  as  all  functions  of  that  char 
acter,  passed  off  pleasantly,  several  of  the  ladies  of 
the  White  House  being  present.  Mr.  Schiff,  by  re 
quest  of  the  President,  escorted  Mrs.  Taft.  The 
President  asked  me  to  sit  next  to  him.  Good  cheer 
and  humor  prevailed.  The  subject-matter  was  not 
mentioned. 

After  luncheon  we  adjourned  to  the  library.  We 
were  seated  in  a  circle  opposite  the  President,  natu 
rally  expecting  to  be  heard,  when  to  our  astonish 
ment  and  keen  disappointment  the  President  opened 
a  drawer  of  the  desk  and  read  to  us  his  conclusions, 
before  he  had  heard  a  word  from  us.  (A  steno 
graphic  report  of  his  statement  follows) : 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  STATEMENT 

I  have  had  formal  communications  from  the  He 
brew  Congregations  containing  an  address  by  Mr. 
Marshall  and  I  have  had  other  communications  of 
a  more  or  less  formal  character  inviting  the  Govern 
ment  to  take  a  certain  course  in  respect  to  Russia 
and  the  passport  question.  I  have  discussed  the 
matter  at  very  considerable  length  in  the  Cabinet, 
have  of  course  taken  it  up  with  Mr.  Knox,  Secretary 
of  State,  in  whose  Department  the  matter  necessarily 
is,  and  I  asked  Mr.  Knox  to  come  here  and  be  here 
today,  but  I  have  excused  him  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  I  subsequently  arranged  for  him  to  go  to  Chi 
cago  and  make  a  speech  on  reciprocity  tonight. 
Otherwise  he  would  be  here  to  assist  me  in  the  ex 
planation  which  I  desire  to  give  and  the  statement 
of  the  conclusion  to  which  I  find  myself  obliged  to 
come. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  295 

Now,  1  could  have  written  a  formal  communica 
tion  in  answer  to  the  resolutions  which  have  been 
sent  me,  or  handed  me  by  Mr.  Bettman,  and  the 
interviews  I  have  had  with  Mr.  Wolf,  and  I  shall 
do  that  at  any  rate;  but  in  the  confidential  relation 
that  we  establish  here  in  this  room,  I  can  make  ex 
planations  somewhat  fuller,  and  my  reference  to 
countries  and  nations  can  be  somewhat  more  per 
sonal  and  direct  than  I  would  feel  justified  in  making 
them  in  a  public  utterance;  and  it  isn't  because  I 
desire  that  the  conclusion  reached  should  not  be 
made  known  to  the  public  (for  I  have  no  objection 
to  that) ,  but  it  is  that  certain  phases  of  the  course  of 
thought  and  reasoning  that  has  led  me  to  the  conclu 
sion  ought  not  to  be  made  public,  because  that  would 
embarrass  me  and  the  Government  in  our  relations 
to  several  foreign — and  especially  European — coun 
tries. 

In  the  first  place,  the  question  is:  To  what  is  the 
Administration  pledged  in  respect  to  this  question  of 
the  passport  matter?  The  pledges  occur  in  the  plat 
form  of  the  Chicago  convention;  in  the  speech  of 
acceptance  by  me  of  the  nomination,  and  in  several 
speeches  that  I  made  in  New  York  City  on  this  sub 
ject — this  specific  subject.  Those  declarations  and 
those  speeches  promised — first  stated  that  the  United 
States  ought  to  use  every  proper  effort  to  make  its 
passport  a  certificate  of  good  treatment  the  world 
round,  with  an  equality  of  opportunity  and  a  recog 
nition  of  equality  without  reference  to  creed  or  race 
anywhere.  Of  course,  there  was  nothing  said  with 
reference  to  the  Russian  treatment  of  the  passports 
of  American  Jews;  but  everybody  understood  who 
read  them  that  that  is  what  those  pledges  had  refer- 


296  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ence  to.  The  speeches  reiterated  what  the  platform 
said.  In  one  or  two  instances  I  said  that  I  wished  to 
be  clearly  understood  that  the  national  prestige 
brought  about  by  the  administration  should  be  used 
to  bring  about  the  recognition  by  other  countries  of 
the  all-embracing  character  of  the  passport  issued 
by  the  American  Government  as  covering  everybody 
under  the  aegis  of  the  American  Government,  no 
matter  what  his  race  or  creed.  There  is  no  doubt 
about  that  declaration.  Nor  is  there  any  doubt 
about  the  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  administration 
to  carry  out  that  promise  and  to  effect  the  result 
that  we  all  have  in  mind. 

This  question  has  been  under  consideration  ever 
since  I  began  my  administration.  I  notified  Mr. 
Rockhill  when  I  sent  him  to  Russia,  by  written  direc 
tion  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  that  I  wanted  this 
matter  taken  up  and  that  I  wanted  him  to  keep  it 
constantly  in  mind;  and  I  do  not  think  there  is  any 
doubt  but  that  he  has,  and  that  he  has  taken  steps  to 
bring  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  Russian  Gov 
ernment  from  time  to  time.  I  asked  several  gen 
tlemen  to  come  to  see  me  with  reference  to  the  selec 
tion  of  an  Ambassador  to  Russia  (Mr.  Rockhill  has 
long  desired  to  be  relieved  on  account  of  the  expense 
of  the  post).  Their  answer  was,  that  after  consid 
eration  they  thought  that  Mr.  Rockhfll  was  as  good 
an  Ambassador  as  we  could  have  on  that  subject  in 
Russia;  and  that  really  it  did  not  depend  on  the 
Ambassador  in  Russia,  but  that  they  thought  that  it 
was  wiser  to  transfer  the  consideration  of  the  ques 
tion  from  St.  Petersburg  to  the  United  States.  The 
consideration  of  that  suggestion  brought  out  that 
because  of  the  necessity  of  referring  such  matters  to 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  297 

the  Russian  Department  of  the  Interior,  which  is  the 
Police  Department,  there  would  be  too  many  delays, 
and  that  course  was  not  considered  effective. 

I  want  to  start  out  with  the  proposition,  which  I 
am  sure  Mr.  Marshall  with  his  profound  knowledge 
of  the  law — of  the  Constitution  and  international 
law — will  quite  concur  in.  That  we  have  no  inter 
national  right  to  object  to  any  nation's  excluding  any 
of  our  people,  assuming  that  there  is  nothing  of  a 
treaty  obligation  between  us.  That  is,  that  if  they 
choose  to  exclude  all  of  our  people  from  sojourn  or 
any  particular  class  of  our  people,  we  could  raise 
no  objection.  We  assert  that  right  against  other 
countries,  and  certainly  we  could  not  deny  it  to  any 
other  country  in  respect  to  our  own  citizens.  There 
fore,  this  question  arises,  not  on  the  doctrine  of 
natural  or  international  right,  but  it  arises  on  one 
section  or  two  sections  of  a  treaty  made  with  Russia 
in  1832.  That  section,  which  really  controls,  is  the 
first  section  providing  the  right  of  sojourn  and  travel 
for  purposes  of  commerce  by  the  citizen  or  subject 
of  one  of  the  countries  in  the  country  of  the  other, 
subject  to  such  local  rules  and  regulations  as  may 
be  applied  in  that  country.  Now,  I  am  not  going  to 
discuss  the  question  whether  that  section  really  can 
be  construed  in  any  other  light  than  we  have  always 
claimed  it  to  be  rightly  construed;  namely,  that  it 
does  give  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  the 
right  to  enter  Russia,  and  after  they  have  entered 
Russia  not  to  be  treated  as  if  they  were  native  Rus 
sians  but  to  be  treated  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  I  say  we  have  always  asserted  that.  That 
is  not  quite  true.  An  examination  of  the  records 
of  the  State  Department  shows  that  there  are  several 


298  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Secretaries  of  State  who  have  left  their  attitude 
somewhat  doubtful  on  that  question,  and  made,  so 
far  as  they  could,  a  precedent  that  might  trouble  us 
if  we  refer  to  the  entire  history.  But  there  is  no 
doubt  that  there  are  two  Secretaries  of  State — and 
men  upon  whom  we  might  well  rely  as  forming  a 
proper  precedent,  to  wit,  Mr.  Elaine  and  Mr.  Everett 
—who  have  consistently  taken  the  position  that 
American  Jews  have  a  right  to  enter  Russia  under 
the  treaty  and  to  be  treated  as  other  Americans 
would  be,  and  that  we  could  not  recognize  or  acqui 
esce  in  any  arrangement  by  which  a  distinction 
should  be  made  growing  out  of  race  or  creed  as  to 
American  citizens;  that  the  equality  that  we  insist 
upon  under  our  Constitution  must  accompany  them 
under  the  passport.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  Russia 
has  taken  an  opposite  view  from  the  beginning,  and 
consistently;  and  not  only  has  she  done  that  under 
our  treaty,  but  under  other  treaties  with  exactly  the 
same  language — a  treaty  with  England,  a  treaty  with 
Germany,  and,  I  think,  a  treaty  with  Austria — pre 
senting  exactly  the  same  question,  and  she  has  taken 
exactly  the  same  position,  and  those  countries  have 
acquiesced.  At  least,  they  have  not  terminated  the 
treaties  and  have  done  nothing  but  protest,  if  they 
did  protest.  And  the  consequence  is  that  the  prac 
tical  operation  of  these  treaties  has  been  that  this 
obligation,  if  it  is  an  obligation  as  I  think  it,  has  been 
unperformed  on  the  part  of  Russia.  This  has  lasted, 
it  may  be  not  a  hundred  years,  or  indeed  seventy- 
five  years,  because  the  question  did  not  arise  until 
Mr.  Everett's  time  along  about  1850  or  1852. 

Now  that  is  the  attitude  of  Russia,  and  we  are 
now  asked — not  having  moved  against  the   treaty 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  299 

and  having  lived  under  the  treaty,  so  to  speak,  for 
more  than  fifty  years;  having  allowed  our  citizens  to 
make  their  investments  and  to  begin  their  business 
arrangements  with  Russia  on  the  faith  of  the  treaty 
of  1832,  thus  practically  treated — we  are  now  asked, 
in  order  to  enforce  what  we  regard  as  the  right  con 
struction  of  that  treaty,  to  insist  that  Russia  should 
give  us  that  construction  or  to  renounce  the  treaty. 
Mr.  Parsons  says,  and  I  may  say  in  speaking  of  this, 
and  I  am  glad  to  say  so  because  I  am  glad  to  recog 
nize  that  there  are  others  than  gentlemen  of  the 
Jewish  race  who  take  that  position — Mr.  Parsons  has 
presented  his  views  on  the  subject  and  urged  that 
the  Administration  take  the  same  course  that  has 
been  recommended  by  Mr.  Marshall,  Mr.  Bettman 
and  the  Hebrew  Congregations  which  they  repre 
sent,  Mr.  Parsons  says  this:  That  it  is  not  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  dignity  of  the  United  States,  or, 
indeed,  in  accordance  with  the  principles  that  ought 
to  govern  a  government  acting  under  our  constitu 
tional  principle  of  equality  to  every  one,  and  espe 
cially  of  no  distinction  as  to  religion,  to  allow  our 
selves  to  maintain  a  relation  under  a  treaty  in  which 
that  principle  of  equality  is  ignored  by  the  other 
side  and  was  sought  to  be  established  by  us  in  a 
specific  provision  for  its  preservation. 

If  this  were  a  new  treaty,  if  it  were  a  question  of 
going  on  with  some  new  writing,  defining  the  rela 
tions  between  the  two  countries,  I  should  think  that 
the  argument  would  have  a  great  weight.  As  a  mat 
ter  of  fact,  we  have  other  treaties  with  other  nations 
in  which  those  nations  have  refused  to  conform  to 
our  view  and  insistence  as  to  the  obligations  upon 
them  of  a  section  of  a  treaty  that  in  terms  operates 


300  THE   PRESIDENTS    I    HAVE   KNOWN 

equally  on  both.  And  we  do  not  renounce  such 
treaties. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  Italian  treaty  with  refer 
ence  to  extradition.  They  insist  that  the  treaty  of 
extradition  does  not  impose  upon  them  the  obliga 
tion  to  extradite  and  to  deliver  to  the  agents  of  our 
government  any  Italian  subject  who  has  committed 
a  crime  in  the  United  States  and  who  has  returned 
or  escaped  to  Italy.  We,  on  the  other  hand,  insist 
that  such  a  section  in  that  treaty  does  impose  that 
obligation  on  the  Italian  Government  and  we  go  to 
the  extent — although  Italy  has  declined  for  several 
years  to  take  that  view — of  delivering  over  under 
such  a  treaty  in  view  of  our  construction  of  it  Amer 
ican  citizens  who  are  charged  with  crime  in  Italy,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  Italy  declines  to  recognize  that 
obligation.  I  instance  that  as  a  case  where  the  re 
fusal  on  her  part  to  comply  with  our  views  of  a 
treaty  has  not  always  led  to  a  denunciation  of  the 
treaty. 

What  I  wish  to  invite  your  attention  to  is  that  this 
relation  between  the  United  States  and  Russia  is  a 
relation  of  fifty  years'  standing.  It  is  a  relation 
under  which  property  rights  have  been  acquired,  in 
vestments  have  been  made,  and  a  status  established 
in  respect  to  a  great  many  things  which,  if  we  de 
nounced  the  treaty,  will  have  no  sanction  or  security 
at  all  and  be  left  wholly  to  the  arbitrary  action  of 
Russia  through  her  executive — for  she  seems  to  have 
very  little  of  a  judiciary  branch — action  which  is 
more  largely  determined  by  political  consideration 
and  governmental  policy  than  by  the  instinct  of 
abstract  justice. 

I  would  be  willing  to  concede,  in  order  to  accom- 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  301 

plish  what  I  realize  is  above  and  over  every  other 
consideration,  the  establishment  of  equality  as  our 
national  principle  and  policy,  I  would  be  willing  to 
take  this  drastic  step  and  sacrifice  the  interests  that 
it  certainly  will  sacrifice  if  I  was  not  convinced  from 
everything  I  had  seen  and  heard — and  I  have  given 
a  good  deal  of  investigation  to  it — that  instead  of 
benefiting  anybody,  and  especially  of  benefiting 
those  persons  in  whose  interests  and  for  the  preser 
vation  of  whose  rights  the  step  would  be  taken,  it 
would  accomplish  nothing  at  all.  In  other  words,  the 
question  is — must  be — a  balance  of  convenience  and 
of  comparative  burden  rather  than  a  question  of 
principle  when  what  is  proposed  to  be  done  is  not 
going  to  accomplish  any  step  toward  that  principle. 
The  condition  in  Russia  is  one  that  is  deplorable, 
but  it  is  a  condition  that  I  think  is  bettering  some.  I 
had  yesterday  morning  a  letter  from  Mr.  Rockhill  in 
which  he  gives  at  length  a  conversation  with  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs — not  Mr.  Isvolosky,  who 
is  a  man  of  anti- American  principle  or  prejudice 
and  was  entirely  willing  to  anger  us;  as  he  told  me, 
"You  helped  Japan  in  this  fight.  How  do  you  like 
it?  You  thought  you  would  help  the  under  dog  in 
the  fight  and  you  were  mistaken  about  it.  Japan 
has  won.  She  is  closing  the  door  in  the  Orient.  We 
can't  open  it.  How  do  you  like  it?  You  are  getting 
a  lesson."  That  is  what  he  said  to  me  personally 
when  I  saw  him  in  Russia.  He  is  succeeded  by  a 
gentleman  of  very  much  more  friendly  sentiment 
and  a  man  who  is  willing  to  admit  or,  at  least,  is 
willing  to  assert  his  very  earnest  desire  to  mitigate 
the  severity  of  (he  rules  against  the  Jews  from 


302  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

America,  but  who  merely  deplores  the  fact  that  the 
conditions  there  exist. 

And  Mr.  Rockhill  leaves  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that 
if  we  denounce  the  treaty  we  shall  be  no  nearer  the 
object  that  we  all  have  in  view,  but  that  we  shall 
imperil  a  good  many  interests  which  it  is  our  duty 
to  preserve.  We  may  and  shall  continue  to  declare 
our  principle  and  our  right  as  we  claim  it  without 
injuring  a  great  many  people,  innocent  and  other 
wise.  And  ultimately  as  Russia  grows  better  we 
shall  secure  recognition  of  the  right,  but  not  now. 

I  should  not  weigh  principle  as  against  pecuniary 
benefit  if  what  is  proposed  would  accomplish  any 
thing  in  the  enforcement  of  principle.  But  it  would 
not.  The  business  with  Russia  amounts,  so  Mr. 
Rockhill  writes,  not  only  the  direct  business,  but  that 
through  Germany  and  other  countries,  to  about  $100,- 
000,000.  The  amount  of  American  capital  in  Russia 
—the  Singer  Sewing  Machine,  the  agricultural  im 
plement  business,  and  the  life  insurance  companies 
— aggregate  fifty  or  sixty  millions.  If  this  treaty 
were  denounced  they  would  be  completely  subject 
to  the  control  of  Russian  tribunals,  influenced  as 
they  are  largely  by  executive  policy,  and  I  do  not 
know  what  might  happen.  We  would  take  out  of 
our  own  hands  the  machinery  by  which  we  can  in 
tervene  to  prevent  injustice  in  individual  instances. 

Now  these  people  who  have  mone)r  there  went  in 
on  the  theory  that  the  status  established  there  for 
fifty  years  they  might  count  would  not  be  disturbed, 
and  the  question,  therefore,  settles  itself  down  as  to 
whether  we  ought  to  take  a  step  that  can  accom 
plish  nothing  and  sever  all  our  relations  to  Russia 


WIIJLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  303 

by  which  through  treaty  rights  we  can  claim  some 
thing,  and  injure  a  great  many  other  people. 

How  much  would  this  affect  the  real,  that  is,  the 
great  question.  How  much  would  this  affect  the 
Russian  Jews  who  are  coming  to  this  country,  who 
are  seeking  refuge  here,  and  whom  I  am  glad  to  wel 
come?  The  more  we  spread  them  out  in  the  West, 
the  better  I  like  it.  I  have  tried  to  help  it  along,  and 
I  have  tried  to  make  the  construction  of  the  law  a 
little  bit  wider  so  we  could  help  them  directly  on  to 
the  plains  of  Texas  and  in  other  parts  of  the  western 
country,  where  they  can  have  independence  and 
show  the  industry  and  ability  to  build  up  a  country 
which  I  have  no  doubt  they  possess.  But  if  we,  by 
the  setting  aside  of  this  treaty  involve  ourselves  in 
hostility  to  Russia  and  change  the  normal  flow  of 
these  people  from  Russia  to  this  country,  and  if,  as 
is  not  unlikely,  Germany  may  interpose  to  prevent 
their  coming  by  way  of  Germany,  and  then  some  of 
them  have  to  be  sent  back,  as  is  always  the  case  be 
cause  they  can  not  satisfy  the  immigration  law  re 
quirements,  wouldn't  they  be  in  a  worse  plight  than 
they  are  now,  and  wouldn't  we  be  imperiling  those 
people  and  the  safety  of  those  people  by  ranging 
ourselves  in  hostility  to  Russia  when  that  hostility 
does  not  involve  any  good  to  anybody?  That  is  the 
way  it  has  struck  me,  gentlemen.  That  is  the  con 
clusion  I  have  reached. 

A  great  many  of  you  gentlemen  do  not  agree  with 
me,  and  I  am  sorry  you  do  not;  but  I  think  perhaps 
that  if  I  had  the  same  justifiable  pride  of  race  that 
you  have  and  the  same  sense  of  outrageous  injustice 
that  comes  home  to  a  man  of  that  race  much  more 
than  it  can  to  a  man  who  is  not  of  the  race,  I  should 


304  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

feel  as  you  do.  But  I  am  the  President  of  the  whole 
country,  and  I  feel  that  in  exercising  a  responsibility 
affecting  everybody  I  have  to  try  to  look  at  the  sub 
ject  from  all  sides.  I  have  summoned  you  here  to 
explain  to  you  the  reasons  for  the  conclusions  I 
have  reached. 

I  will  put  this  into  writing  and  I  will  give  it  to  Mr. 
Wolf  or  to  any  member  here,  with  the  hope  that  it 
will  not  be  made  public,  especially  the  references  to 
foreign  countries.  So  far  as  the  conclusion  is  con 
cerned,  I  have  no  objection,  and  I  will  send  a  formal 
answer  to  the  gentlemen  who  have  honored  me  by 
sending  me  a  memorial,  but  I  thought  it  due  to  you 
in  frankness  to  state  to  you  my  conclusion,  because 
I  have  given  it  a  great  deal  of  consideration.  It  has 
worried  me  more  than  I  can  tell;  but,  having  reached 
the  conclusion,  having  thought  it  over  and  dreamed 
of  it  and  studied  it,  it  is  better  that  I  should  tell  you 
without  leaving  you  in  doubt  in  the  matter  and 
should  be  as  candid  and  straightforward  as  I  can. 

It  is  a  subject  that  is  certain,  always  certain,  to 
set  up  a  great  deal  of  feeling,  and  it  is  a  conclusion 
that  I  am  quite  sure  will  make  a  great  many  very 
honest  and  straightforward  people  think  that  I  have 
reached  a  wrong  conclusion  and  have  not  given  suffi 
cient  consideration  to  certain  arguments  that  with 
them  are  conclusive;  but  it  is  the  best  I  have  been 
able  to  do,  and  I  have  asked  you  to  come  here  in 
order  that  I  may  give  you  this  full  explanation. 

Just  how  this  ought  to  be  given  out,  I  do  not  know. 
I  can  put  it  in  a  formal  answer  to  the  memorial  of 
the  Hebrew  Congregations  and  send  it  to  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  other  congregations — perhaps  that 
would  be  better. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  305 

After  he  had  finished  the  reading  of  this  memo 
randum  I  recovered  my  breath  enough  to  say  "Please 
do  not  give  to  the  press  such  conclusions,  for  it  would 
prove  highly  injurious  to  our  people  in  Russia." 
Before  the  President  could  reply,  Mr.  Schiff,  in  a 
voice  vibrant  with  feeling,  said,  "I  want  it  published. 
I  want  the  whole  world  to  know  the  President's 
attitude." 

Mr.  Marshall  then  said,  "Mr.  President,  does  this 
preclude  any  further  discussion?"  He  laughingly 
said,  "No."  Mr.  Marshall  thereupon  began  to  an 
swer  some  of  the  views  which  President  Taft  had 
made  in  the  memorandum,  calling  attention  to  the 
general  line  of  argument  which  we  had  agreed  upon, 
and  emphasizing  the  proposition  that  the  question 
involved  was  the  integrity  of  American  citizenship, 
which  was  more  important  to  every  American  citizen 
than  all  of  the  dollars  and  cents  that  might  be  in 
volved  in  any  business  ventures  in  which  American 
citizens  might  be  engaged  in  Russia;  that  we  did  not 
believe  that  the  American  people  would  permit  pri 
vate  business  interests  to  count  against  the  principle 
that  all  American  citizens  were  equal  and  were  to  be 
free  from  all  discrimination;  that  if  the  commercial 
interests  of  any  body  of  men  were  to  be  subserved 
at  the  cost  of  a  loss  of  dignity  on  the  part  of  our 
country  and  under  circumstances  which  would  con 
stitute  a  reflection  on  American  citizenship,  the  pub 
lic  at  large  would  be  found  in  oppposition  to  such 
an  attitude;  that  the  question  was  not  one  which 
concerned  the  Jews  as  such,  but  involved  the  dignity 
of  our  Government  when  it  issued  its  passport,  and 
the  sanctity  of  American  citizenship. 

The    President   replied    that   he    appreciated   the 


306  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

position  taken  by  Mr.  Marshall,  but  asked  him 
whether,  as  a  lawyer,  he  believed  that  the  situation 
was  such  as  to  call  for  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty. 
To  which  Mr.  Marshall  replied  that  he  unquestion 
ably  did,  especially  in  view  of  the  provision  which 
the  treaty  contained  which  permitted  either  party  to 
terminate  it  on  one  year's  notice,  and  that  abundant 
cause  existed  for  giving  such  notice.  The  President 
then  asked  whether  we  had  taken  into  consideration 
what  effect  the  termination  of  the  treaty  would 
have  on  our  relations  with  Russia.  Mr.  Marshall 
answered  that  that  proposition  had  been  carefully 
considered;  that  it  did  not  render  commercial  rela 
tions  impossible,  but  that  whoever  undertook  to 
carry  on  business  with  Russia  would  have  to  do  so 
with  knowledge  that  there  were  no  commercial 
treaty  relations  between  the  two  governments;  that 
as  a  practical  proposition,  whoever  wanted  to  buy 
would  buy  and  whoever  desired  to  sell  would  sell, 
and  that  inasmuch  as  Russia  had  disregarded  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  treaty  of  1832  by  arbitrarily 
excluding  American  citizens  of  the  Jewish  faith  from 
Russia,  the  existence  of  a  treaty  could  not  be  con 
sidered  of  any  special  value  to  the  United  States; 
but,  whatever  the  effect  might  be  upon  our  com 
merce,  it  was  a  negligible  matter  compared  with  the 
great  and  underlying  question  of  the  dignity  of 
American  citizenship. 

Mr.  Marshall  then  referred  to  the  policy  of  pre 
ceding  Administrations,  which  were  in  accord  with 
the  proposition  that  Jews  who  were  American  citi 
zens  had  the  right  to  enter  Russia  under  the  treaty 
equally  with  all  other  American  citizens,  and  that 
the  treaty  could  not  be  otherwise  construed  without 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  307 

doing  violence  to  the  fundamental  principle  that 
American  citizens  could  not  be  divided  into  classes, 
which  gave  to  all  equal  rights  and  imposed  upon  all 
like  duties. 

Mr.  Schiff  then  discussed  the  question  from  his 
standpoint  and  described  the  efforts  that  had  been 
made  to  procure  redress,  the  inability  of  our  Gov 
ernment  by  diplomatic  means  to  secure  a  change  in 
the  Russian  policy,  the  desire  of  Russia  to  obtain 
American  capital,  and  the  opportuneness  of  our  in 
sisting  at  that  particular  time  on  a  termination  of 
the  discriminatory  policy  which  Russia  was  pursu 
ing  at  the  very  time  when  she  was  seeking  American 
capital. 

After  this  discussion  had  been  going  on  for  some 
time,  the  President  said:  "I  have  just  received  a 
communication  from  Mr.  Rockhill,  the  American 
Ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg,  a  part  of  which  I 
shall  be  glad  to  have  you  read."  He  thereupon  took 
from  his  secretary  a  long  letter  from  which  he  tore 
a  number  of  pages,  which  he  stated  had  no  refer 
ence  to  the  matter  with  which  we  were  concerned, 
and  handed  it  to  Mr.  Marshall,  with  the  suggestion 
that  if  we  desired  we  might  withdraw  into  an  ad 
joining  room  for  the  purpose  of  reading  the  letter 
and  discussing  it  among  ourselves.  We  accepted 
his  suggestion  and  Mr.  Marshall  read  to  us  quite  a 
long  communication,  in  which  Mr.  Rockhill  pre 
sented  the  stock  arguments  of  Russia  with  respect 
to  the  Jews,  the  contention  that  if  given  greater 
rights  than  they  had  they  would  exploit  the  peas 
ants,  and  that  there  were  reasons  which  made  it 
necessary  for  Russia,  in  conducting  her  internal 
affairs,  to  deal  with  the  Jewish  problem  as  she  had 


308  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

done  and  to  withhold  from  the  Jews  of  other  coun 
tries  the  right  to  enter  Russia.  I  do  not  pretend  to 
accurately  quote  this  letter.  I  am  merely  stating  its 
general  effect. 

We  had  very  little  time  to  say  anything  to  each 
other  except  to  express  our  astonishment,  as  we  had 
been  informed  by  the  President's  secretary,  Charles 
D.  Norton,  that  the  President  had  to  leave  in  twenty 
minutes  to  fill  another  appointment.  Therefore, 
after  reading  Mr.  Rockhill's  letter,  we  decided  that 
Mr.  Marshall  and  Mr.  Schiff  should  make  reply  to 
the  President  in  such  manner  as  might  appear  best 
to  them,  both  of  said  gentlemen  having  asked  that 
they  be  permitted  to  express  themselves. 

We  thereupon  returned  to  the  library,  where  the 
President  was  awaiting  us,  and  Mr.  Schiff,  speaking 
first,  protested  that,  as  all  of  us  had  understood  the 
invitation,  the  President  desired  to  have  a  confer 
ence  with  us  to  learn  our  views  as  to  what  should  be 
done  in  the  difficult  situation  with  which  the  Admin 
istration  found  itself  confronted,  because  of  the  un 
willingness  of  the  Russian  Government  to  yield  to 
the  request  our  Government  had  made  to  remove, 
or  at  least  modify,  the  discrimination  which  was 
being  made  against  American  Jews  who  desired  to 
enter  Russia.  Instead  of  this,  what  we  expected  to 
be  a  conference  had  resulted  in  a  communication  to 
us  by  the  President  of  foregone  conclusions  on  his 
part  that  he  had  decided  to  do  nothing  whatsoever 
without  even  having  given  us  an  opportunity  to 
state  our  own  views. 

Mr.  Schiff  continued:  "Mr.  President,  you  have 
said  that  you  are  not  prepared  to  permit  the  com 
mercial  interests  of  ninety-eight  million  of  the 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  309 

American  people  to  suffer  because  two  million  feel 
that  their  rights  as  American  citizens  are  being  in 
fringed  upon.  My  own  opinion  has  always  been 
that  it  was  the  privilege  of  the  head  of  this  nation 
that,  if  only  a  single  American  citizen  was  made  to 
suffer  injury,  the  entire  power  of  this  great  Govern 
ment  should  be  exercised  to  procure  redress  for 
such  injury,  and  now  you  tell  us  because  some  special 
interests  who  are  trading  with  Russia  might  suffer  if 
the  abrogation  of  the  treaty  was  carried  into  effect, 
you  would  not  do  anything  to  protect  two  million 
American  citizens  in  the  rights  vouchsafed  to  them 
under  our  Constitution  and  laws. 

"We  feel  deeply  mortified,  that  in  this  instance, 
Mr.  President,  you  have  failed  us,  and  there  is  noth 
ing  left  to  us  now  but  to  put  our  case  before  the 
American  people  directly,  who  are  certain  to  do  us 
justice." 

Mr.  Schiff  added,  "In  1861,  a  small  but  in  some 
respects  potential  minority  claimed  that  it  would  be 
better  to  permit  the  slave  states  to  go  out  of  the 
Union  instead  of  risking  a  Civil  War,  but  public 
opinion  insisted  that  the  slave  must  be  freed  and  the 
Union  remain  supreme  at  any  cost;  the  war  for  the 
right  was  thereupon  fought  and  won,  even  with  all 
the  sacrifice  it  necessitated.  To  this  same  public 
opinion,  Mr.  President,  we  shall  now  turn,  and  we 
have  no  fear  of  the  results."  The  President  ex 
pressed  regret,  but  could  not  see  any  other  course 
to  pursue. 

Thereupon  the  various  conferees  shook  hands 
with  the  President  and  left  the  White  House.  As  we 
went  down  the  stairs,  Mr.  Schiff  said,  "This  means 
war,"  and  authorized  that  he  be  drawn  on  to  the 


310  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

extent  of  $25,000,  if  necessary,  for  a  fund  to  carry 
on  a  campaign  of  education  to  bring  about  the  abro 
gation  of  the  treaty,  which  generous  action  was  thor 
oughly  characteristic  of  Mr.  Schiff.  A  few  minutes 
afterwards  Mr.  Bettman  made  the  statement,  "Wir 
sind  in  'Golus.' '  (We  are  still  suffering.)  I  have 
always  remembered  these  two  contrasting  points  of 
view. 

The  day  after,  while  at  the  White  House,  the 
President  saw  me,  and  in  the  most  good-humored 
way  said,  "Wasn't  Mr.  Schiff  angry  yesterday?" 

A  few  days  after  the  conference,  Mr.  Schiff  wrote 
a  letter  to  President  Taft  from  Palm  Beach,  which 
reads  as  follows,  and  is  in  every  way  a  document  of 
historical  value : 

Hotel  Poinciana, 
Palm  Beach,  Florida, 

February  20,  1911. 
Mr.  President: 

I  desire  to  take  the  first  opportunity  I  can  find  since 
leaving  Washington  to  thank  you  for  the  courteous 
hospitality  extended  to  me,  with  others,  at  your 
family  luncheon  table  last  Wednesday  and  to  assure 
you  of  the  great  pleasure  it  was  to  meet  Mrs.  Taft 
and  your  daughter. 

I  wish  I  could  say  that  the  "Conference"  which 
followed  the  luncheon,  and  to  which  you  asked  us, 
had  turned  out  equally  satisfactory.  It  could  scarcely 
be  termed  a  Conference,  as  expressed  in  the  invita 
tion.  It  was  rather  a  call  to  the  White  House  for 
the  purpose  of  acquainting  those  who  had  been  asked 
with  the  final  conclusions  you  had  reached  concern 
ing  the  Russian  Passport  question,  and  as  to  which 
your  party  and  you  personally  had  given  such  clear 
and  positive  assurances  during  the  campaign  in 
which  you  were  elected  to  the  Presidency. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  311 

The  main  reasons,  which  as  you  explained,  led  you 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  impractical  to  further 
act  upon  the  pledges  were : 

First :  That  Russia's  failure  to  live  up  to  its  obliga 
tion  under  the  treaty  of  1832  to  honor  the  American 
Passport,  through  an  application  of  a  faith  test,  had 
though  constantly  protested  against,  been  permitted 
to  continue  for  so  long  a  period  of  time,  that  it  was 
now  too  late  to  enforce  the  only  logical  remedy,  the 
abrogation  of  the  treaty. 

Second :  That  special  interests  had  in  the  course  of 
time  acquired  rights,  and  that  commercial  relations 
had  become  established  which  might  be  jeopardized, 
if  existing  treaties  with  Russia  were  denounced. 

Third:  That  it  was  moreover  feared,  that  in  case 
of  such  action  on  our  part,  pogroms  and  massacres 
of  Russian  Jews,  such  as  shocked  the  world  in  1905, 
might  be  repeated. 

As  to  the  last  horrible  prospect,  those  at  the  Con 
ference  undertook  to  assure  you,  that  we  were  ready 
to  take  the  responsibility  upon  our  own  shoulders; 
that  the  Russian  Government  having  by  its  cruel 
treatment  of  its  Jewish  subjects  forced  the  Jew  all 
over  the  world  into  an  attitude  of  hostility,  it  was 
recognized  by  our  coreligionists  that  in  such  a  situ 
ation,  as  in  war,  each  and  every  man,  wherever 
placed,  must  be  ready  to  suffer,  and  if  need  be,  to 
sacrifice  his  life. 

The  fact  that  certain  trade  interests,  notably  the 
Harvester  and  Sewing  machine  industries  we  assume, 
might  be  the  losers  from  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty 
under  which  we  live  with  Russia,  but  which  on  her 
part  she  ignores  whenever  this  suits  her,  will,  I  be 
lieve,  be  hardly  accepted  as  a  good  and  substantial 
reason  for  the  maintenance  of  the  treaty  on  our  part, 
by  the  gross  of  the  American  people,  who  not  only 
quickly  resent  insult  to  what  our  flag  represents — 
equality  for  and  justice  to  all  who  live  under  it,  but 
desire  moreover  their  Government  to  adopt  a  firm 
attitude  in  the  defense  of  the  rights  of  every  Ameri- 


312  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

can  citizen.  The  fact  that  the  denial  of  the/rights  by 
Russia  has  heretofore  been  permitted  to  continue 
without  positive  remedial  action,  except  repeated 
protests,  is  hardly  a  good  reason  why  at  some  time 
our  long  patience  should  not  come  to  an  end.  Nor 
has  Russia  at  any  time  heretofore  ignored  our  treaty 
rights  in  such  flagrant  and  insulting  a  manner,  as  she 
now  does,  when  she  goes  so  far  as  not  to  hesitate  to 
publicly  announce  that  an  Ambassador  of  the  United 
States,  when  he  confesses  the  Jewish  religion  can  not 
enter  her  dominions,  except  as  an  exceptional  favor 
and  by  a  special  permit.  And  this  is  the  same  Russia 
which  during  the  past  few  days  has  actually  threat 
ened  China,  which  it  is  true,  is  weak,  with  war,  be 
cause  the  latter  as  Russia  claims,  is  ignoring  the 
rights  of  a  few  Russian  traders,  secured  to  them 
under  an  old  treaty,  which  until  recently,  as  is  stated, 
had  not  been  considered  of  any  value. 

I  am  writing  this,  Mr.  President,  while  away  from 
home  without  consulting  with  those  with  whom  I 
called  on  you,  upon  your  invitation  last  Wednesday, 
so  that  the  responsibility  for  this  communication  is 
entirely  mine.  Because  of  this,  I  may  repeat  that  I 
am  personally  overcome  with  a  feeling  of  disappoint 
ment  and  sorrow,  that  from  what  you  have  said  at 
our  recent  meeting,  you  are  apparently  of  the  opin 
ion  that  no  further  consideration  need  be  given  the 
party  and  personal  pledges  which  have  been  made. 

If  what  is  generally  meant  by  a  Conference,  as  it 
was  expressed  in  the  invitation,  had  taken  place,  and 
if  in  its  course  we  should  have  been  asked,  what  in 
face  of  your  own  conclusions,  we  can  yet  advise  to 
be  done,  we  would  likely  have  repeated  the  sugges 
tion  we  made  to  you  some  eight  or  nine  months  ago, 
that  all  negotiations  through  our  Ambassador  in  St. 
Petersburg  be  terminated,  and  that  further  demands 
upon  Russia  to  live  up  to  her  treaty  obligations,  be 
accompanied  by  the  firm  request,  that  discussions 
and  negotiations  be  carried  on  in  Washington.  The 
Court  atmosphere  at  the  Russian  Capital  appears  to 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  313 

affect  our  Ambassadors  in  a  manner,  which  is  not 
conducive  to  the  most  effectual  representation  of  such 
interests  as  are  involved  in  this  controversy;  and  we 
might  further  have  said  that  something  might  be  ac 
complished  if  the  high-minded  attitude  taken  by  Rep 
resentative  Herbert  Parsons,  in  the  questions  at  issue, 
should  receive  the  support  of  the  administration,  in 
stead  of  otherwise.  It  is  well  to  add  here,  that  Mr. 
Parsons  has,  as  far  as  I  know,  consulted  none  of  us 
in  what  he  has  done  and  was,  as  he  has  assured  me, 
solely  impelled  in  offering  his  resolution,  by  the  mor 
tification  he  had  long  felt,  that  Russia  should  be  per 
mitted  to  offer  such  constant  insult  to  the  American 
people. 

Notwithstanding  the  present  discouragement  we 
have  received,  I  have  the  unshakable  belief  that  at 
some  time  public  opinion,  that  most  emphatic  voice 
of  the  American  People,  will  compel  the  Govern 
ment  to  resent  the  continuous  insult  to  them  which 
Russia  has  only  too  long  been  permitted  to  inflict  by 
the  non-observance  of  its  treaty  obligations. 

Very  respectfully, 

JACOB  H.  SCHIFF. 
To  the  President, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

To  this  letter  the  President  sent  the  following 
reply : 

The  White  House,  February  23,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Schiff: 

I  have  yours  of  February  20th,  and  I  only  answer  it 
in  order  to  correct  some  misapprehensions  on  your 
part. 

In  the  first  place,  my  party  and  I  personally  gave 
no  assurance  that  we  would  take  the  step  to  which 
you  urge  us.  We  said  we  would  take  all  proper  steps 
to  give  to  the  American  passport  the  effect  that  it 
ought  to  have  with  respect  to  all  our  citizens  without 
regard  to  creed  or  race. 


314  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

My  objection  to  taking  the  step  which  you  mention 
is  that  it  would  not  accomplish  the  object  which  we 
both  would  like  to  accomplish.  It  would  merely  in 
jure  other  people  without  accomplishing  any  good 
for  those  whose  right  to  equal  treatment  as  American 
citizens,  which  I  believe  the  Russian  treaty  secures,  is 
not  recognized  by  Russia. 

The  object  of  the  conference  or  meeting  was  to  en 
able  me  to  say  to  you  in  an  informal  manner  why  I 
could  not  make  it  consistent  with  my  duty  to  take  the 
step  in  abrogation  of  the  treaty  which  you  recom 
mend.  I  wished  to  be  as  frank  as  possible,  and  I 
therefore  took  the  method  of  inviting  you  all  to  the 
White  House,  where  I  could  speak  with  entire  free 
dom. 

The  reasons  which  you  assign  to  me  are  not  either 
fairly  or  properly  stated.  The  abrogation  of  the 
treaty  if  we  can  not  make  another  treaty — as  we  can 
not — is  not  a  logical  remedy  to  secure  a  recognition 
of  our  passports  in  Russia.  On  the  contrary,  if  we 
abrogate  the  treaty  our  passports  will  not  have  as 
much  effect  in  Russia  as  they  now  have. 

Nor  are  the  persons  or  business  enterprises  to  be 
most  injuriously  affected  by  the  denunciation  of  the 
treaty  confined  to  the  harvester  and  sewing  machine 
companies. 

You  miss  the  point  as  to  the  age  of  the  treaty,  which 
is  this:  It  was  objected  by  Mr.  Parsons  and  others 
that  it  was  undignified,  improper  and  cowardly  on 
the  part  of  this  Government  to  permit  a  treaty  to 
stand — one  section  of  which  the  Russian  Government 
has  persistently  violated.  My  reply  to  this  is  that  if 
this  conduct  is  thus  to  be  characterized,  it  is  the  con 
duct  of  this  country  since  1852,  when  the  question  was 
first  raised,  and  there  has  been  no  change  of  circum 
stances  which  makes  the  action  which  you  ask  more 
necessary  or  exigent  than  it  has  been  in  the  last  fifty 
years.  On  the  contrary,  the  status  which  has  been 
maintained  for  fifty  years  has  been  one  upon  which 
many  innocent  persons  have  acted  and  have  assumed 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  315 

in  making  investments  in  Russia  that  the  treaty  would 
not  be  denounced. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty  will 
leave  the  Russian  Jews  who  attempt  to  come  to  this 
country  in  a  less  favorable  condition. 

I  am  very  sorry  to  disappoint  you,  but  I  have  con 
sidered  this  at  great  length  and  with  every  desire  to 
secure  a  proper  recognition  of  the  American  passport 
in  Russia,  but  I  differ  with  you  as  to  the  proper  step 
to  take  to  secure  this  object.  I  believe — and  in  this 
I  am  following  the  information  that  I  get  from  gentle 
men  whose  judgment  is  entirely  reliable,  including 
our  Ambassador — that  the  present  condition  can  be 
ameliorated  by  patient  effort  and  constant  attention 
to  it,  and  this  I  shall  continue  to  bring  to  bear  on  it 
no  matter  how  severe  your  criticism  and  that  of  other 
gentlemen  upon  my  course,  may  be.  The  proposition 
to  bring  the  matter  for  discussion  to  Washington  is 
entirely  absurd  because  Russia  would  put  her  Am 
bassador  under  such  restriction — as  she  already  has — 
as  to  make  a  conference  with  him  entirely  futile. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 

Mr.  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Esquire, 
Hotel  Royal  Poinciana, 

Palm  Beach,  Fla. 
Feb.  25, 1911. 

P.  S. — I  have  submitted  your  letter  and  my  answer 
to  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  and  I  en 
close  a  copy  of  his  written  comment  on  the  corre 
spondence. 

I  may  add,  with  respect  to  your  being  summoned 
to  a  conference,  that  I  did  in  advance  state  informally 
my  conclusion,  and  that  was  the  chief  occasion  for 
calling  you.  But  I  certainly  gave  opportunity,  both 
to  you  and  to  Mr.  Marshall,  and  to  all  the  others  who 
were  there,  to  state  your  views  on  the  subject,  and  I 
presume  that  that  sufficed  to  make  it  a  conference  in 
fact;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  have  given  the  fullest 
consideration  to  what  was  said  to  me  by  you  and  Mr. 


316  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Marshall,  although  it  was  a  repetition  of  what  I  had 
already  found  in  Mr.  Marshall's  elaborate  petition 
which  had  been  forwarded  to  me. 

The  letter  from  Secretary  Nagel,  which  the  Presi 
dent  enclosed  to  Mr.  Schiff ,  reads  as  follows : 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 

February  25,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President: 

I  return  the  letter  from  Mr.  Schiff,  and  also  your 
answer  that  you  handed  me  yesterday  in  Cabinet 
meeting  and  both  of  which  I  took  away  by  mistake. 
I  have  again  read  both  letters  since  then,  and  am 
very  much  impressed  with  the  patience  which  you 
exhibit  in  your  answer.  At  the  same  time,  it  appears 
to  me  that  is  the  wiser  course  to  pursue. 

I  think  that  the  gentlemen  whom  you  invited  did 
expect  more  of  a  conference,  and  perhaps  with  rea 
son;  but  that  is  an  unimportant  feature  in  the  case. 
The  result  was  necessarily  the  same,  and  your  desire 
to  give  them  the  benefit  of  the  reasons  which  you 
could  not  publicly  discuss  certainly  constituted  occa 
sion  enough  for  the  invitation. 

The  unfairest  part  of  Mr.  SchifFs  letter  I  think  is 
his  reference  to  the  Harvester  and  Sewing  Machine 
industries  as  constituting  the  trade  between  this  coun 
try  and  Russia.  This  discloses  a  readiness  on  his  part 
to  play  upon  a  chord  of  popular  prejudice  which  it 
must  be  said  is  usually  played  upon  at  his  expense. 
Furthermore,  his  statement  is  untrue  because  these 
interests  do  not  comprise  all  the  exports  to  Russia, 
and  more  especially  because  these  interests  are  neces 
sarily  the  pioneers  for  a  much  more  extended  inter 
national  commerce.  This  feature  these  gentlemen 
have  constantly  overlooked.  The  question  is  not  what 
the  commercial  relations  are  today,  or  what  commer 
cial  value  we  might  lose  today,  by  an  abrogation  of 
the  treaty;  the  real  question  is  whether  the  forces 
that  now  sustain  the  important  relation  between  this 
country  and  Russia  and  between  Russia  and  all  the 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  317 

civilized  world  would  be  paralyzed  by  the  action 
which  these  gentlemen  have  proposed.  In  other 
words,  ultimately  more  justice  for  the  Jews  will  be 
secured  by  the  enlightenment  which  attends  and  fol 
lows  free  commercial  intercourse  than  will  ever  be 
done  by  a  threat  or  by  a  severance  of  relations. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL. 

Following  this  abortive  conference  the  representa 
tives  of  the  several  national  organizations  who  had 
taken  part  in  it  concerted  a  general  movement,  hav 
ing  in  view  the  bringing  to  bear  the  public  opinion  of 
the  country  on  the  President  and  the  Congress  in  re 
lation  to  this  all  important  matter.  Accordingly  the 
executives  of  the  American  Jewish  Committee,  the 
Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  and  of  the  Union 
of  American  Hebrew  Congregations,  joined  in  in 
augurating  a  series  of  conferences  with  Senators  and 
Representatives  of  the  various  states  in  their  home 
districts,  and  in  organizing  and  marshaling  the  al 
ready  existing  sentiment  of  the  country  in  favor  of 
positive  action  in  the  matter  of  the  Russian  treaty. 
The  result  of  these  movements  became  manifest  in  a 
growing  urgency  for  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty,  and 
after  lengthy  discussions  in  both  the  House  and  the 
Senate,  Congress,  on  December  13, 1911,  adopted  reso 
lutions  directing  the  President  to  notify  the  Govern 
ment  of  Russia  of  the  purpose  of  the  American  Gov 
ernment  to  terminate  the  treaty  of  1832  on  the  first 
of  January,  1913.  Just  after  this  action  of  Congress, 
Mr.  Adolf  Kraus  and  myself  had  occasion  to  visit  the 
President,  and  he  told  us  that  he  would  make  us  a 
Christmas  gift  by  giving  official  notice  to  Russia. 

During  the  time  preceding  the  final  action  of  Con- 


318  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

gress,  I  received  from  Senator  S.  M.  Gullom,  Chair 
man  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  of  the 
Senate,  a  very  interesting  letter  which,  being  of  spe 
cial  import,  I  include  herein : 

United  States  Senate, 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  December  14, 1911. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Friend : 

Your  favor  of  the  llth  instant,  accompanying 
twenty  copies  of  the  "International  Law  and  the  Dis 
criminations  Practiced  by  Russia  under  the  Treaty  of 
1832,"  was  duly  received.  The  committee  was  in  such 
confusion  when  the  pamphlets  were  received  that  I 
did  not  distribute  them,  but  will  do  so  with  pleasure. 

I^want  to  refer  to  my  letter  of  a  few  days  ago  con 
cerning  hearings  before  the  Senate  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations.  We  are  not  in  the  habit  of  giving 
hearings,  but  sometimes  when  a  Senator  desires  to  be 
heard  or  has  some  one  he  would  like  to  have  appear 
before  the  committee  we  grant  the  request,  just  as 
we  did  in  the  case  of  Senator  Culberson  who  came  to 
me  and  said  that  he  and  another  gentleman  wanted  to 
appear  before  the  committee,  on  yesterday. 

If  it  should  be  decided  to  have  any  more  hearings 
on  the  question  of  the  termination  of  the  treaty  of 
1832  between  the  United  States  and  Russia  and  you 
desire  to  appear  before  the  committee,  I  shall  be  glad 
to  hear  from  you.  My  impression  is,  however,  that 
no  additional  hearing  is  necessary,  as  the  country 
seems  determined  that  action  be  taken  on  the  subject 
by  Congress. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  M.  CULLOM. 

Secretary  Root,  on  November  8,  1911,  addressed  a 
letter  to  me  in  reply  to  one  which  I  had  sent  him  a 


WILLIAM    HOWARD   TAFT  319 

few  days  previous  to  this  date,  advising  the  Depart 
ment  of  State,  that  as  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Dele 
gates  on  Civil  Rights  of  the  Union  of  American  He 
brew  Congregations  and  representative  of  the  Inde 
pendent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  resident  in  Washing 
ton,  I  had  received  many  requests  to  intercede  with 
the  Government  in  behalf  of  the  Jews  in  Russia.  In 
acknowledging  my  letter,  Secretary  Root  said: 

"In  reply  to  your  request  that,  although  you  are 
cognizant  of  the  fact  that  the  present  is  not  a  favor 
able  time  for  intervention  or  representations  by  the 
United  States,  the  department  will,  if  it  can,  point  out 
a  way  in  which  it  can  be  of  service  to  these  unfortu 
nate  people,  I  have  to  say  I  quite  concur  in  your  view 
that  at  this  juncture  any  action  by  this  Government, 
looking  to  the  relief  of  your  coreligionists  in  Russia 
would  be  inopportune  and  unavailing.  With  the 
hoped-for  establishment  of  a  more  liberal  form  of 
government,  and  the  restoration  of  administrative 
control  over  the  remote  scenes  of  the  occurrences 
which  are  so  greatly  to  be  deplored,  this  Government 
may  look  for  a  practical  response  to  its  repeated  so 
licitations  of  freer  treatment  of  American  Hebrews, 
and  may  be  in  a  position  to  exert  efficient  good  influ 
ence  toward  the  more  liberal  treatment  of  all  Jews  in 
Russia,  and  their  better  protection  from  the  conse 
quences  of  deep-lying  racial  antagonisms.  The  prob 
lem  is  one  which  strongly  attracts  the  sympathetic  at 
tention  of  this  Government. 

I  am,  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

ELIHU  ROOT." 

As  soon  as  the  treaty  had  been  abrogated  by  Con 
gress  and  the  President,  December  18,  1911,  I  wrote 
the  following  letter: 


320  THE   PRESIDENTS   I    HAVE   KNOWN 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  Dec.  19, 1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President : 

Illness  yesterday  prevented  my  congratulating  you 
on  the  happy  solution  you  have  so  admirably  brought 
about.  I  never  doubted  for  a  moment  that  when  the 
hour  came  to  act,  you  would  be  found  doing  the  right 
thing  for  all  our  people. 

God  bless  you  and  give  you  not  only  in  this,  but  in 
the  coming  administration,  the  confidence  and  good 
will  you  so  eminently  deserve. 

Sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 
To  which  he  replied : 

The  White  House, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Dec.  21, 1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  thank  you  warmly  for  the  kind  words  of  your  let 
ter  of  December  19th.  I  took  the  only  course  that  was 
open  to  me,  after  the  negotiations  had  exhausted 
every  resource  of  diplomacy. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

In  connection  with  the  agitation  of  the  passport 
question,  Mr.  John  Hays  Hammond  had  been  referred 
to  as  one  who  was  opposed  to  the  granting  of  the 
passports  and  who  had  endeavored  to  influence 
President  Taft  accordingly. 

Correspondence  on  this  subject  which  I  have  read 
dispels  completely  any  suspicion  against  Mr.  Ham 
mond. 

The  letter  from  President  Taft,  quoted  below,  con 
firms  the  assertion  of  Mr.  Hammond's  Jewish  friends 
that  he  had  not  at  any  time  endeavored  to  exert  any 
influence  in  this  matter.  On  the  contrary,  the  cor- 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  321 

respondence  shows  that  Mr.  Hammond  made  re 
peated  attempts  through  influential  Russian  sources 
to  improve  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in  Russia. 

In  view  of  Mr.  Hammond's  many  years  of  asso 
ciation  with  leading  Jewish  financiers  abroad  and  in 
this  country  in  connection  with  mining  investments, 
and  the  many  warm  friends  he  has  among  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Jewish  people  the  world  over,  it  seems 
only  justice  to  Mr.  Hammond  to  make  this  statement. 

November  26,  1917. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

My  friend,  John  Hays  Hammond,  is  anxious  that 
you  should  not  do  him  injustice  in  the  chapter  in 
your  Memoirs  in  respect  to  the  Jewish  passport  ques 
tion.  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  confirm  Mr.  Ham 
mond's  statement  that  never  at  any  time  did  he  en 
deavor  to  influence  my  attitude  on  the  passport  ques 
tion.  He  was  very  careful  not  to  talk  with  me  about 
it.  Indeed  he  was  exceedingly  particular  not  to  dis 
cuss  Russia  with  me,  and  I  did  not  know  he  was 
going  to  Russia.  He  did  not  go  at  all  at  my  sugges 
tion,  or  with  any  official  or  unofficial  errand  from 
me.  He  had  nothing  to  do  in  forming  my  opinion 
as  I  expressed  it  at  the  conference  interview.  I  am 
glad  to  do  this  justice  to  Mr.  Hammond,  and  I  am 
sure  you  will  be  glad  to  have  me  do  it. 

As  ever, 

Sincerely  yours,  . 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

When  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Order  of  the 
B'nai  B'rith  met  subsequent  to  the  action  of  Con 
gress  they  voted  a  gold  medal  to  President  Taft, 
which,  under  the  laws  of  the  Order,  was  to  be  given 
to  the  person  who  had  done  great  service  for  human- 


322  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ity,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  following  letter  of  Mr. 
Kraus,  president  of  the  Order: 

INDEPENDENT  ORDER  OF  B'NAI  B'RITH 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 

June  24,  1912. 
Honorable  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Sir  and  Brother: 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  lately  held  in  the 
City  of  Berlin,  Germany,  the  following  action  was 
officially  taken  as  shown  by  the  record  of  that  meet 
ing: 

"There  was  next  taken  up  the  voting  of  the  gold 
medal  to  the  man,  or  woman,  regardless  of  creed, 
who  has  contributed  most  during  the  year  to  the 
welfare  of  the  Jewish  cause.  After  full  discussion 
it  was  decided  that  President  William  Howard  Taft 
of  the  United  States  of  America  had  on  various  occa 
sions  during  the  year  fearlessly,  justly  and  vigor 
ously  enunciated  doctrines  and  maintained  positions 
on  questions  in  which  the  Jewish  people  have  been 
vitally  interested,  albeit  they  are  of  not  less  signifi- 
rance  to  lovers  of  liberty  and  justice  the  world  over; 
that  the  position  so  taken  by  one  as  a  head  of  a 
great  nation  gave  new  hopes  of  better  days  to  come 
for  the  persecuted  of  our  people;  that  in  recognition 
thereof  the  medal  should  be  and  accordingly  it  was 
voted  to  President  Taft." 

Yourself,  Judge  Stein,  and  myself  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  present  the  medal  to  President  Taft. 
Judge  Stein  just  returned  from  Europe  two  days 
ago,  and  I  arrived  home  only  a  few  days  earlier. 
Will  you  kindly  arrange  with  those  who  may  be  ex 
pected  to  know  the  President's  movements,  for  an 
acceptable  time  for  us  to  make  the  presentation? 

Sincerely  yours, 

ADOLF  KRAUS. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  323 

Subsequently  the  Executive  Committee  met  in  the 
City  of  Washington,  and  were  the  guests  of  Presi 
dent  Taft  at  luncheon,  at  which  function  Mr.  Kraus 
presented  the  medal.  The  ladies  of  the  household 
and  relatives  temporarily  stopping  there  were  also 
present.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  luncheon  a  photo 
graphic  group  was  taken  on  the  south  portico  of  the 
Executive  Mansion.  Mr.  Julius  I.  Peyser,  ex-presi 
dent  of  District  Grand  Lodge  No.  5,  having  been  in 
vited  to  be  at  the  meeting,  formed  one  of  the  group. 

After  this  picture  had  been  taken,  President  Taft 
detained  me  on  the  porch  for  a  few  moments,  and 
in  telling  me  of  an  affectionate  incident  that  had 
occurred  between  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  himself  on  the 
morning  of  Mr.  Taft's  inauguration  as  President,  he 
spoke  with  the  kindest  feeling  for  his  old  friend  and 
gave  evidence  of  keen  regret  that  conditions  had 
severed  their  friendly  relations. 

It  is  but  justice  to  say  that  during  all  the  years  of 
agitation  for  the  recognition  of  the  passport,  and 
which  finally  lead  to  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty 
with  Russia,  Hon.  Henry  M.  Goldfogle,  member  of 
Congress  from  New  York  City,  did  yeoman  service. 

In  November,  1912,  a  report  was  circulated  that 
the  United  States  was  about  to  make  a  temporary 
agreement  with  Russia.  Mr.  Kraus  addressed  a  let 
ter  to  me,  calling  my  attention  to  the  matter,  in 
which  he  stated : 

Nov.  20,  1912. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Brother  Wolf: 

You  will  find  enclosed  an  editorial  which  ap 
peared  in  today's  Chicago  Record-Herald.  I  received 
also  a  letter  from  one  of  the  members  of  the  Execu- 


324  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

live  Committee  inquiring  as  to  what  I  know  of  the 
action  of  the  President.  I  have  not  looked  up  the 
question  as  to  whether  or  not  the  President  has  the 
power  to  enter  into  any  such  an  agreement  and  I  do 
not  believe  that  President  Taft  made  any  such  agree 
ment  if  he  has  the  power,  but  I  wish  you  would  look 
into  the  question  and  ascertain  if  you  can  what  truth, 
if  any,  there  is  to  the  report. 
With  best  regards. 

Sincerely  yours, 

ADOLF  KRAUS. 

P.  S. — Since  dictating  the  above  I  received  by  mail 
several  letters,  and  it  looks  as  though  I  am  going  to 
be  swamped  with  questions  as  to  what  we  are  going 
to  do  concerning  the  commercial  agreement  with 
Russia.  I  quote  from  the  letter  from  a  State  Sena 
tor:  "Well,  things  are  coming  out  just  as  I  told  Dr. 
Cyrus  Adler  and  as  I  warned  our  friends  in  the  East 
last  summer.  I  felt  that  Knox  would  negotiate  a 
commercial  treaty  with  Russia  and  postpone  indef 
initely  that  feature  of  it  in  which  we  are  most  in 
terested.  If  this  commercial  treaty  goes  through, 
the  trouble  that  resulted  in  the  abrogation  of  the 
present  one  will  continue  and  we  will  be  just  where 
we  started." 

If  after  all  it  should  turn  out  that  the  reports  as 
to  an  agreement  are  true,  it's  ten  to  one  that  Mr. 
Roosevelt  will  take  it  up  against  the  present  admin 
istration,  and  if  he  does  he  will  raise  an  issue  that 
will  over-shadow  all  the  others.  I  fear  that  there  is 
going  to  be  some  music  in  the  air. 

A.  K. 

Mr.  Kraus  the  following  day  further  addressed  me: 

Chicago,  111.,  Nov.  21,  1912. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Brother  Wolf: 

This  morning  I  received  a  letter  from  Brother 
Furth  in  which  among  other  things  he  says :  "Don't 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  325 

you  think  that  Brother  Simon  Wolf  should  be  re 
quested  to  call  on  the  President  and  inform  him  of 
our  views  and  wishes  in  this  matter,  and  at  the  same 
time  get  some  declaration  from  him?  I  think  that 
if  we  are  engaged  in  world  work  we  should  show 
our  interest  in  this  matter  by  bringing  about  an  offi 
cial  conference  between  President  Taft  and  our 
representative." 

If  it  is  true  that  the  commercial  treaty  remains  in 
force  by  executive  agreement  pending  further  nego 
tiations,  then  there  is  going  to  be  a  howl  from  one 
end  of  the  country  to  the  other.  The  President  will 
be  accused  of  giving  notice  of  the  abrogation  of  the 
treaty  for  political  purposes  only,  with  the  precon 
ceived  design  to  stop  Congress  from  passing  the 
resolution,  and  fooling  the  people.  I  am  sure  of  the 
President's  good  faith  in  spite  of  newspaper  reports. 
At  the  same  time,  it  seems  to  me  it  will  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  you  to  find  out  where  we  are,  and  if 
what  I  still  believe  to  be  impossible  should  after  all 
turn  out  not  only  to  be  possible  but  to  be  a  fact,  it 
will  have  controlling  influence  upon  our  future  ac 
tion.  If  there  is  any  way  for  you  to  ascertain,  in 
case  the  newspaper  reports  are  correct,  if  anything 
is  left  undone  so  that  the  administration  can  still  be 
influenced  not  to  complete  the  act,  lose  no  time  to 
advise  me  by  wire. 

With  best  regards, 

Sincerely  yours, 

ADOLF  KRAUS. 

Mr.  Kraus  was  so  greatly  agitated  over  reports  re 
ceived  by  cable  from  Saloniki  that  this  same  day  he 
wired  me  as  follows: 

"As  time  is  precious,  have  wired  President  Taft 
following:  'Received  cable  report  from  Constanti 
nople  from  reliable  source  that  the  Greeks  are  plun 
dering  Jewish  quarter  in  Saloniki,  destroying  the 
Synagogues,  raping  women.  That  the  German  and 


326  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

French  Ambassadors  have  protested  to  the  Govern 
ment  at  Athens  and  that  similar  action  by  our  gov 
ernment  is  prayed  for.'  If  you  deem  advisable,  in 
terview  Secretary  Knox." 

On  November  22d,  I  wired  Mr.  Kraus : 

"Your  letters  received.  Have  written  you  at  length. 
Have  had  every  assurance  that  no  pact  ignoring  the 
passport  question  will  be  entertained.  Will  see  the 
President  Saturday  again.  Today  he  is  invisible, 
writing  message.  Will  keep  you  advised  and  will 
leave  nothing  undone  to  secure  an  affirmative  state 
ment." 

At  the  earliest  possible  moment  I  took  the  matter 
up  with  the  President  by  letter,  as  follows : 

November  twenty-second,  1912. 
To  the  President: 

The  wires  are  kept  busy  and  the  mail  no  less,  in 
asking  me  to  see  you  at  once  and  get  a  definite  state 
ment  from  you  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  administra 
tion  on  the  statements  contained  in  the  press  as  to 
an  agreement  between  this  country  and  Russia, 
whereby  trade  relations  would  be  continued  after 
the  abrogation  of  the  treaty  has  gone  into  effect,  thus 
practically  abrogating  the  abrogation,  and  nullify 
ing  the  wish  of  the  American  people,  who  by  a  unan 
imous  vote  of  their  representatives  in  both  Houses 
of  Congress,  and  by  your  own  act  as  Executive  of 
the  Nation,  gave  plain  and  unmistakable  notice  to 
the  Russian  government  that  the  United  States  would 
no  longer  tolerate  any  relations  with  Russia,  unless 
the  passport  in  the  hands  of  an  American  citizen 
should  be  recognized  and  be  effective  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  no  matter  to  what  nationality  or  faith 
the  holder  thereof  might  belong. 

I  have  been  frank  and  outspoken  to  all  these  let 
ters,  telegrams  and  personal  interviews,  by  assuring 
them  that  you  would  not  entertain  such  a  proposi- 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  327 

tion;  that  as  far  as  the  administration  was  con 
cerned,  you  would  be  found  firm  in  your  attitude 
towards  Russia,  no  matter  how  much  our  commerce 
for  the  moment  might  suffer.  This  great  Nation 
which  has  survived  a  Civil  War  for  four  years,  cost 
ing  billions  of  money,  but  which  was  fought  for  a 
great  principle,  surely  can  not  afford  to  permit  an 
equally  great  principle  to  be  sacrificed  in  the  interest 
of  trade.  Independent  of  this,  the  fact  having  gone 
into  all  parts  of  the  world  that  the  United  States  took 
high  ground  on  a  vital  principle  which  constitutes 
the  Republican  ideal  of  government,  and  had  given 
notice  to  Russia  of  the  abrogation  of  a  friendly 
treaty,  encouraged  the  friends  of  human  rights,  and 
now  to  destroy,  by  a  conciliatory  act  these  high  types 
on  the  part  of  the  struggling  all  over  the  world,  in 
dependent  of  our  own  free  people,  would  be  viola- 
tive  of  every  principle  of  our  government,  and  jus 
tify  the  enemies  of  free  institutions  in  their  contempt 
for  our  promises. 

I  have  every  assurance  from  those  in  a  position 
to  know  that  the  President-elect  will  stand  by  the 
pledges  made  by  Congress,  and  by  your  own  act,  and 
that  no  treaty  relations  will  be  resumed  by  the  in 
coming  administration  unless  the  passport  question 
is  satisfactorily  adjusted. 

I  would  be  exceedingly  gratified  to  have  an  affir 
mative  statement  from  you,  embodying  the  views 
that  you  have  personally  expressed  to  me. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

The  President  did  keep  faith  with  us,  and  there 
was  no  agreement  of  the  kind  feared  ever  made 
with  Russia,  which  was  no  surprise  to  me,  as  I  never 
for  a  moment  doubted  the  sincerity  of  President  Taft 
or  his  advisers. 

A  few  days  later  I  received  from  him  a  letter, 


328  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

which  confirmed  in  every  way  my  own  opinion  of 
the  whole  matter.     His  letter  reads : 

The  White  House,  November  26,  1912. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

With  reference  to  the  reports  that  we  are  engaged 
in  making  a  temporary  agreement  with  Russia  to 
take  the  place  of  the  agreement  which  we  have  abro 
gated,  I  beg  to  assure  you  that  we  expect  to  make  no 
agreement  of  this  kind,  or  of  any  kind.  What  we 
have  been  doing  is  examining  the  existing  treaties 
and  statutes  and  international  law  applicable  to  a 
situation  like  that  which  will  occur  after  our  treaty 
with  Russia  of  1832  shall  cease  to  be.  We  do  not 
expect  to  change,  by  any  agreement,  or  so-called 
modus  vivendi,  the  status  quo,  which  the  abrogation 
of  the  treaty  will  leave  on  the  first  of  January  next 
by  its  ceasing  to  have  effect. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

THE  GENERAL  CONVENTION  OF  THE  INDEPENDENT  ORDER 
OF  B'NAI  B'RITH,  HELD  IN  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  1910. 

In  April,  1910,  when  the  General  Convention  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  a  national 
and  international  fraternal  Jewish  organization,  con 
vened  at  Washington,  meeting  at  the  Arlington 
Hotel,  a  banquet  was  tendered  on  April  6th  to  the 
visiting  delegates,  in  which  many  of  the  leading  citi 
zens  of  Washington  participated.  After  having 
called  the  audience  to  order,  I  turned  the  banquet 
over  to  Rabbi  Abram  Simon,  of  Washington,  who 
presided  in  his  usual  felicitous  manner.  President 
Taft  honored  us  by  being  one  of  the  speakers.  His 
address  was  one  long  to  be  remembered  and  should 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  329 

be  preserved  for  all  time  as  an  historical  document. 
He  said: 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  B'nai  B'rith: 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  be  here  and  to  welcome  to 
Washington  so  important  a  society.  We  haven't  any 
Mayor  in  Washington — we  only  have  a  District 
Commission,  so  the  President  is  drafted  in  to  act  the 
part  of  a  Mayor  at  Washington. 

I  am  not  here  to  make  a  speech;  I  am  only  here  to 
try  and  make  you  welcome  in  the  National  Capital. 
I  am  sure  that  by  your  coming  here  you  indicate 
that  you  like  to  come  here,  that  you  like  to  find  this 
Capital  what  it  is — the  most  beautiful  city  in  the 
country.  We  have  occasionally,  a  little  controversy 
in  Washington  between  those  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  be  permanent  residents  here  and  those 
who  are  not  permanent  residents,  but  govern  the 
city.  Those  who  are  permanent  residents  think  that 
they  ought  to  govern  the  city,  and  those  who  are 
not,  think  that  the  city  is  a  federal  city,  a  city  of 
the  entire  country,  and  that  instead  of  seeking  to 
govern  the  city,  they  ought  to  thank  the  Lord  that 
they  are  here  at  all.  (Laughter.) 

We  have  great  plans  for  Washington  and  I  hope 
that  they  will  develop.  Certainly  there  is  every 
prospect  that  the  beauty  of  the  city  will  continue  to 
grow.  Those  of  you  who  have  been  in  the  wilder 
places  about  Washington  will  understand  the  oppor 
tunity  that  there  is  for  development.  I  am,  with 
respect  to  Washington,  at  least,  an  expansionist. 
(Applause.)  I  wish  that  our  neighbor,  Virginia, 
would  give  back  those  few  square  miles  that  in  the 
younger  days  of  the  Republic,  when  we  were  not  as 


330  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

wise  as  we  are  now  and  had  a  Congress  that  was 
narrow-minded,  we  retroceded  to  Virginia  that  part 
of  the  ten  miles  square  that  Virginia  had  given  us. 
But  Virginians,  like  their  ancestors,  like  real  estate, 
and  they  are  rather  loath  to  give  back  that  which 
once  was  ours,  and  which  we,  as  I  say,  in  a  fit  of 
absent-mindedness  and  with  a  narrow  view  of  our 
future,  allowed  them  to  take  back.  If  we  had  it  here 
now,  with  the  beautiful  bank  of  the  Potomac  on  the 
other  side,  we  could  construct  a  park  there  that 
would  be  becoming  in  dignity  to  the  National  Capital, 
(Applause.) 

We  have  below  here — if  you  ride  horseback  I  will 
be  glad  to  take  you  down  and  show  you — an  island 
nearly  two  miles  long  and  from  one-half  to  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  immediately  at  the  door  of 
the  city,  which  if  added  to  the  Potomac  Park  we 
now  have  will  make  one  of  the  finest  drives  and  one 
of  the  finest  parks  in  the  world.  We  now  have  ap 
propriations  from  Congress  to  proceed  to  fill  up,  to- 
kill  all  the  mosquitoes  that  are  generated  there,  and 
to  make  it  worthy  of  the  surroundings,  with  that 
magnificent  monument  to  the  Father  of  His  Country 
presiding  over  it  all.  (Applause.) 

But  I  do  not  come  here  to  make  a  speech  about 
Washington.  I  came  here  to  welcome  you  to  Wash 
ington.  I  have  known  the  B'nai  B'rith  for  many 
years,  for  its  good  work,  for  the  social  opportunities 
that  it  gives,  and  as  a  model  Jewish  Society.  (Ap 
plause.)  And  when  I  say  a  model  Jewish  Society,  I 
mean  a  Society  that  may  be  a  model  for  all  societies. 
(Applause.)  They  have  a  rule  in  the  Gridiron  Club 
which  prevents  the  praise  of  newspaper  men,  that 
being  a  newspaper  club,  but  I  hope  no  such  inhos- 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  331 

pitable  rule  prevails  in  the  B'nai  B'rith,  and  that  I 
may  be  permitted  to  say  one  or  two  things  of  the 
value  to  this  country  of  its  Jewish  citizens.  (Ap 
plause.) 

I  am  fortunate  in  having  a  wife  who  controls  the 
family  and  she  has  had  a  great  interest  in  music. 
She  took  upon  her  shoulders,  while  we  were  living 
in  Cincinnati,  the  organization  of  an  orchestra  asso 
ciation  and  the  support  of  an  orchestra  there.  She 
struggled  and  worked  very  hard,  and  while  I  am  no 
musician  at  all — I  am  only  a  brother-in-law  to  music, 
so  to  speak — I  naturally  came  to  have  an  intense 
sympathy  with  her  in  the  efforts  which  she  made  to 
arouse  among  the  citizens  of  Cincinnati  an  interest 
in  the  highest  musical  culture  in  order  that  we 
might  sustain  an  orchestra.  If  you  have  never  tried 
to  sustain  an  orchestra,  if  you  have  never  come  in 
contact  with  people  truly  musical,  you  do  not  under 
stand  the  troubles  that  arise  in  dealing  with  geni 
uses.  She  had  all  those  troubles,  but  at  her  back, 
and  in  making  what  she  did  possible,  in  raising  thirty 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  in  carrying  on  that 
association,  she  found  the  leading  Jewish  members 
of  Cincinnati  society  with  her  and  supporting  every 
concert  and  every  effort  that  she  made,  and  I  have 
never  ceased  to  be  grateful  to  them. 

The  truth  is,  before  I  had  this  education  I  was  a 
Philistine;  I  thought  that  music,  especially  in  the 
higher  grades  of  it  was  something  that  nobody  un 
derstood  who  was  worth  anything;  that  the  study  of 
it  was  the  pursuit  of  a  fad,  and  one  who  stood  solidly 
on  the  ground  might  well  disregard  it.  But  I  have 
learned  a  great  many  things  since  that  time,  and  I 
have  learned  that  the  man  who  neglects  the  cultiva- 


332  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

tion  of  any  art,  who  neglects  the  study  of  any  art, 
to  which  he  has  the  slightest  turn,  is  neglecting  that 
which  the  Lord  gave  him  to  enjoy.  And  when  he  is 
a  Philistine  and  ignores  and  sneers  at  it,  he  only 
manifests  his  own  ignorance  of  those  enjoyments,  of 
those  methods  of  developing  the  soul  and  the  emo 
tion  which  have  made  the  human  race  what  it  is. 
(Applause.) 

Now,  I  have  the  profoundest  admiration  for  the 
Jewish  race,  because  in  addition  to  their  many  other 
virtues,  they  are  essentially  artistic,  and  they  appre 
ciate  everything  that  is  artistic.  They  make  excel 
lent  citizens;  they  are  in  favor  of  law  and  order 
always  and  I  am  glad  to  have  them  come  to  this 
country.  (Applause.)  I  have  known  those  who 
have  been  in  the  country  as  long  as  I  have,  and 
therefore  just  as  much  Americans  as  I  am.  I  also 
have  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  those  who  were 
come  but  recently,  and  I  have  always  found  in  them 
the  profoundest  appreciation  of  our  institutions  of 
liberty,  the  profoundest  appreciation  of  our  educa 
tional  facilities,  and  their — what  sometimes  those  of 
us  who  have  sons  and  daughters  in  competition  in 
the  schools  realize — ability  generally  to  stand  first 
in  their  class.  (Applause.) 

I  am  an  Unitarian.  I  do  not  know  whether  you 
have  heard  that  in  the  last  campaign  or  not.  The 
church  where  my  father  had  a  pew,  and  where  I 
always  went  to  church,  stood  next  to  the  Jewish 
synagogue,  presided  over  by  that  distinguished  Jew, 
that  learned  man,  that  patriot  and  citizen,  Rabbi 
Isaac  M.  Wise.  (Applause.)  Rabbi  Lilienthal  was 
also  a  gentleman  to  whom  my  father  taught  me  in 
my  childhood  to  look  up  to,  and  our  churches  were 


JAMES  BRYCE 


WILLIAM    HOWARD   TAFT  333 

so  close  together  that  occasionally  we  interchanged 
pulpits.  So  that  you  see,  on  the  main  question,  I  am 
orthodox. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  had  not  intended  to  say  so 
much,  but  if,  in  what  I  have  said,  I  have  conveyed 
to  you  my  high  appreciation  of  the  race  that  you 
represent — the  oldest  race  in  the  world — the  race 
that  is  entitled  really  to  be  the  aristocrats  of  the 
world,  and  yet  who  make  the  best  Republicans — 1 
have  succeeded  in  what  I  hoped  to  do.  (Applause.) 

As  will  be  noted,  throughout  the  address  of  the 
President  great  applause  prevailed.  The  banquet 
was  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  people  of  the  United  States,  for  not  only  was 
the  President  there,  but  Speaker  Joseph  G.  Cannon, 
Hon.  James  Bryce,  the  British  Ambassador;  Hon. 
John  W.  Foster,  ex-Secretary  of  State;  Admiral  Win- 
field  Scott  Schley,  Hon.  T.  V.  Powderly,  ex-Com 
missioner-General  of  Immigration;  Hon.  Cuno  H. 
Rudolph,  President  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners; 
Justice  Wendell  Phillip  Stafford,  Hon.  Jacob  H. 
Schiff,  and  others  prominent  in  the  public  and  social 
life  of  the  nation. 

Ambassador  Bryce's  speech: 

"Mr.  Toastmaster,  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gen 
tlemen  : 

I  thank  you  for  the  invitation  which  has  been 
given  by  my  friend,  Mr.  Simon  Wolf,  to  come  to 
your  hospitable  board  tonight,  and  I  desire  to  ex 
press  to  you  the  very  sincere  pleasure  that  it  gives 
me  to  be  present,  at  a  gathering  of  this  great  inter 
national  society  which  has  been  the  agent  for  so 


334  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

much  good,  most  of  all  here  in  America,  yet  also  in 
many  of  the  European  countries.  It  is  all  the  more 
pleasure  to  me  because  I  have,  like  the  President,  the 
good  fortune  to  have  a  great  many  Jews  among  my 
personal  friends,  and  I  had  the  compliment  paid  me 
sometime  ago  in  England  of  being  elected  an  hon 
orary  member  of  the  Jewish  Historical  Society,  which 
has  conducted  researches  of  great  interest  and  value 
into  the  history  of  the  Jews  in  England  from  the  first 
times  when  they  were  in  that  country  down  to  our 
own  day. 

Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  am  here  to  bring  you 
the  greetings  from  England  to  this  gathering  in 
America.  I  can  do  that  all  the  more  heartily,  all 
the  more  sincerely,  because  I  congratulate  you  in 
this  country — I  mean  the  people,  the  citizens  of  the 
American  Republic — upon  having  held  fast  to  those 
excellent  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  and 
equality  which  were  first  proclaimed  as  regards  the 
people  of  Israel,  in  the  English  Commonwealth  of 
the  17th  Century.  (Applause.) 

It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  that  day  that  Oliver 
Cromwell  was  the  first  ruler  of  England,  who 
allowed  the  Jews  who  had  been  banished  from  it 
since  the  time  of  Edward  the  First,  to  return— 
although  I  fancy  some  of  them  had  secretly  come 
back.  He  was  the  first  person  who  allowed  them  to 
settle  in  England  and  to  do  business  and  live  peace 
ably  there.  That  was  a  great  and  worthy  act,  one 
of  the  things  for  which  the  Protector  deserves  to  be 
praised  by  your  people  as  he  is  praised  by  ours. 
There  is  a  story,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  he  was 
very  nearly  becoming  an  American,  that  he  had  ac 
tually  taken  his  passage — that  is  to  say,  arranged  to 


WILLIAM    HOWARD   TAFT  335 

sail  in  a  vessel  for  that  state  which  is  now  known  as 
New  England,  and  he  was  prevented  by  an  act  on 
the  part  of  the  Government,  or  King  Charles  the 
First,  from  reaching  the  vessel  and  setting  sail.  It 
was  rather  an  unfortunate  act  on  the  part  of  Charles 
the  First,  which  he  subsequently  must  have  regretted. 
Well,  I  do  not  vouch  for  the  absolute  accuracy  of 
that  story;  I  am  not  a  newspaper  reporter  and  there 
fore  I  can  not  vouch  for  the  absolute  accuracy  of 
the  very  statement  I  make.  But,  if  the  story  is  not 
true,  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be  true,  and  I  do  not  think 
it  has  ever  been  disproved,  and  Cromwell — whether 
he  meant  to  come  here  or  not,  would  have  been  a 
very  worthy  citizen  of  this  continent.  Whether  he 
would  have  had  any  sphere  here  for  the  testing  of 
his  extraordinary  talents,  I  do  not  know,  but  at  any 
rate  he  would  have  been  a  model  example  of  those 
principles  of  civil  liberty,  which  he  applied  in  our 
country  when  he  allowed  the  Jews  to  come  back  into 
England.  From  that  time  on  they  have  had  a  fair 
field  in  England;  they  have  had  a  fair  field  not  only 
as  regards  civil  rights  and  political  rights,  but  also 
as  regards  what  is  sometimes  more  difficulty  secured, 
social  rights.  Nobody,  in  respect  of  his  Jewish  faith, 
is  restricted  to  any  social  faith  in  England.  I  am 
proud  of  the  fact  and  I  am  proud  to  say  that  there 
are  no  better  people  who  stand  higher  in  our  respect, 
who  are  more  valued  in  society  for  the  sake  of  their 
own  character  and  qualities,  than  the  members  of 
your  own  community  in  England.  And  I  am  happy 
to  say  that  we  have  profited  by  the  spirit  which  in 
that  regard  we  have  shown,  because  your  race  has 
given  to  us  a  great  many  men  of  high  distinction 
who  have  rendered  high  service  to  our  country.  Two 


336  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

of  those  men,  in  different  spheres,  happen  to  he  per 
sonal  friends  of  mine — one  of  them,  one  of  our  most 
distinguished  lawyers  who  is  constantly  selected  for 
important  functions  hy  our  Government,  Arthur 
Cohen,  and  another  of  our  most  learned  scholars, 
Mr.  Leonard  Montefoire.  You  have  also  given  us 
one  remarkable  Prime  Minister,  Mr.  Disraeli.  You 
have  given  us  some  great  lawyers  and  some  great 
judges.  You  have  given  us  artists  and  musicians, 
as  well  as  men  of  business,  men  who  have  adorned 
every  profession  that  they  have  entered,  and  we  are 
grateful  for  that  and  we  are  glad  to  think  that  the 
nation  which  tries  to  practice  the  principles  of  lib 
erty,  and  which  tries  to  practice  the  principles  of 
social  fairness  and  equality,  profits  by  it.  I  wish 
that  those  countries  in  which  these  principles  of 
liberty  and  equality  are  not  so  fully  recognized, 
would  understand  how  much  they  lose  by  their  in 
tolerant  spirit.  (Applause.)  I  will  give  at  any  rate 
one  remote  example:  There  was  never  a  greater 
misfortune  for  Spain  than  in  the  day  when  she  ex 
pelled  her  Jewish  subjects,  and  some  people  have 
dated  the  decline  of  Spain  not  only  from  that  day, 
but  believe  that  much  of  the  brightest  and  best  in 
telligence  of  Spain  was  turned  out  to  go  to  other 
lands. 

Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  was  told  when  I  was 
invited  to  come  here  that  I  was  to  offer  some  re 
marks  to  you  upon  the  subject  of  the  Jews  in  history. 
That  will  be  too  large  a  subject  of  which  I  know  too 
little  to  be  worthy  to  treat,  but  it  did  suggest  to  me. 
one  feature,  and  one  feature  only  which  I  will  ven 
ture  to  give  you.  Many  people  think  of  history  as  if 
it  was  a  record  of  political  strife  or  parliamentary 


WILLIAM    HOWARD   TAFT  337 

debate  and  popular  elections;  but  these  things  are 
not  the  essence  and  kernel  of  history;  that  which 
makes  history,  that  in  which  the  true  and  vital  ele 
ment  of  history  consists  is  a  study  and  knowledge  of 
intellectual  and  moral  and  spiritual  movements  and 
forces,  and  that  which  strikes  me  when  1  think  of 
the  history  of  Israel  is,  that  it  is  a  history  from  the 
first  down  until  now  of  the  intellectual,  moral  and 
spiritual  forces  and  of  the  power  of  their  intellectual 
exercise  and  worth.  It  was  your  race,  when  it  was  a 
small  race  in  the  small  Kingdom  placed  by  the 
mighty  powers  of  Egypt  on  the  one  side  and  Syria 
on  the  other — it  was  your  race  in  those  days  that 
first  proclaimed  the  Unity  of  God;  it  was  your  race 
that  first  gave  to  the  world  a  great  literature,  a  relig 
ious  literature  of  strength  and  standard.  And  ever 
since  it  has  been  by  intellectual  and  moral  forces 
that  your  race  has  lived  to  serve  the  world,  and  there 
is  no  more  striking  example  in  history  of  the  power 
which  the  spiritual  forces  can  exert  than  this — that 
down  to  the  present  day,  through  all  vicissitudes, 
you  have  been  exposed  to,  through  all  the  dangers, 
through  all  the  persecutions,  which  have  been  more 
than  renewed,  it  is  your  faith  in  Jehovah  that  has 
held  you  together  as  a  people.  Ladies  and  gentle 
men,  that  is  a  wonderful  record,  and  that  is  an  in 
spiring  thought,  and  I  am  glad  to  think  that  the  pur 
pose  which  brings  you  here  tonight,  the  charitable 
and  philanthropic  aims  to  which  this  society  of  the 
B'nai  B'rith  is  devoted,  are  aims  and  objects  which 
are  worthy  of  your  ancient  and  historic  spirit,  aims 
for  which  you  have  the  authority  of  the  Prophets 
and  the  Psalms  which  we  revere  and  which  you 
revere  and  which  we  find  brings  us  all  close  together. 


338  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Let  me  wish,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  all  success  and 
prosperity  to  this  society  of  yours,  and  to  this  Order 
of  the  B'nai  B'rith,  and  let  me  express  my  pleasure 
that  it  is  developing  and  spreading  in  England  as 
well  as  in  America."  (Applause.) 

Concluding  this  wonderful  address,  the  Ambassa 
dor  spoke  in  German,  referring  to  the  friendship 
which  should  exist  between  England,  Germany  and 
the  United  States,  the  three  great  powers,  where  re 
ligious  and  political  liberty  exists,  and  where  the 
citizens  of  all  faiths  are  made  thrice  happy.  Pity 
it  is  that  the  World  War  has  completely  destroyed 
the  Ambassador's  hopes. 

Justice  Wendell  Philip  Stafford,  speaking  on 
"Israel's  Ideal  of  Justice,"  said: 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  tonight  about  the  con 
tribution  Israel  has  made  to  the  world's  ideal  of 
justice.  Justice  is  undoubtedly  the  dearest  interest 
that  men  possess.  There  is  only  one  thing  more  im 
portant  than  to  get  justice,  and  that  is  to  do  justice. 
The  race  that  has  done  most  to  elevate  and  widen 
the  world's  sense  of  justice  has  rendered  it  the 
greatest  service.  And  let  me  say  at  once  that  the 
reading  and  reflection  of  a  lifetime  have  led  me  to 
believe  that  that  supreme  distinction  must  be  ac 
corded  to  the  Jew. 

What  is  justice?  Certainly  it  is  not  that  thing 
which  in  a  childish  and  partial  view  some  men  mis 
take  for  justice — the  deserved  punishment  of  guilt, 
or  the  reward  of  merit.  Rather  let  us  say  it  is  that 
harmonious  adjustment  of  all  relations  that  comes  of 
a  keen  and  controlling  sense  of  what  is  right.  Jus- 


JUSTICE  WENDELL  PHILIPS  STAFFORD 


WILLIAM    HOWARD   TAFT  339 

tice  is  a  universal  concept.  It  is  not  in  conflict  with 
mercy.  Mercy  is  only  another  name  for  justice.  It 
is  only  another  expression  of  the  same  infinite  and 
divine  face.  If  we  ever  think  of  mercy  and  justice 
as  warring  with  each  other  it  is  only  because  our 
view  is  too  narrow  and  contracted.  Take  it  in  a 
court  of  justice.  It  is  never  a  question  whether 
mercy  shall  be  shown.  Mercy  ought  always  to  be 
shown.  The  question  is,  how  shall  it  be  shown,  and 
to  whom  shall  it  be  shown,  to  the  one  or  to  the  many, 
to  the  guilty  or  to  the  innocent,  to  the  murderer  or 
to  him  who  may  be  his  next  victim  if  he  shall  go 
free,  to  the  individual  sufferer  or  to  that  great  num 
ber  who  may  be  restrained  by  his  example?  And 
even  to  the  offender  some  measure  of  punishment 
may  be  the  truest  mercy. 

Now  it  is  the  glory  of  the  Jew,  that  he  clearly  per 
ceived  this  universal  quality  of  justice.  That  un 
rivalled  gift  of  spiritual  insight  that  enabled  him  to 
stand  in  the  crowded  pantheon  of  pagan  gods,  un- 
bewildered  by  their  subtlety,  unenamored  of  their 
beauty  and  proclaimed  the  everlasting  truth  that  God 
is  one — that  same  gift  enabled  him  to  see  that  God's 
character  is  one  and  perfectly  consistent.  He  bowed 
down  and  said,  "Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire,"  and 
then  lifted  up  his  face  in  child-like  confidence  and 
said,  "His  mercy  endureth  forever."  He  saw  that 
the  two  truths  were  not  really  two  but  one.  He 
thought  of  God  as  a  king  who  wraps  creation  round 
him  like  a  garment,  and  yet  he  felt  him  to  be  a 
father,  who  leans  down  to  catch  the  lowest  whisper 
of  his  child.  And  his  idea  of  God  was  one  and  the 
same  with  his  idea  of  justice.  Other  peoples  have 
pictured  justice  as  an  angel  standing  beside  the 


340  THE   PRESIDENTS   I    HAVE   KNOWN 

throne  waiting  with  the  glittering,  unsheathed  sword 
of  vengeance,  or  holding  before  her  blindfolded  eyes 
the  poised  and  pendent  balance.  The  Hebrew  went 
beyond  all  that.  With  the  boldness  of  the  seer  he 
cried,  "Justice  and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of 
Thy  throne,"  as  much  as  to  say,  "God's  very  throne 
is  built  upon  his  justice,  and  if  God  himself  could 
fall  away  from  justice  he  would  in  that  same  mo 
ment  fall  away  from  power."  When  has  thought 
soared  to  a  more  daring  height,  or  clothed  itself  in 
language  more  magnificent?  Compare  that  sublime 
conception  of  the  Jew  with  the  vacillating  deities 
of  Olympus — creations  of  the  most  brilliant  intellect 
the  world  has  ever  known. 

And  then  he  saw  that  justice  was  eternal.  All 
things  about  him  were  in  flux.  Races  might  come 
and  go,  empires  might  rise  and  fall,  but  what  was 
right  yesterday  was  right  today,  and  would  be  right 
tomorrow.  There  he  took  his  stand.  The  earth  might 
shake  and  tremble,  the  mountains  might  skip  like 
young  rams,  but  justice  would  never  fail  him,  and 
underneath  him  were  the  everlasting  arms.  God 
gave  him  to  see  through  the  things  that  are  ever 
changing,  the  things  that  never  change. 

And  one  thing  more  he  saw — saw  it  with  a  clear 
ness  of  vision  never  granted  to  any  other,  and  held 
to  it  with  a  courage  as  stubborn  as  ever  stood 
against  the  tide  of  battle — he  saw  that  no  matter 
what  the  opposition,  no  matter  what  the  persecution, 
no  matter  what  the  apparent  power  of  the  oppressor, 
justice  was  sure  to  triumph  in  the  end.  That  is  the 
vision  and  the  faith  that  have  made  his  record 
glorious.  Those  are  the  wings  of  song.  That  is  the 
burning  coal  of  prophecy.  The  reign  of  the  Messiah, 


WILLIAM    HOWARD  TAFT  341 

what  is  it  after  all  but  the  final,  the  permanent  estab 
lishment  of  Justice.  That  is  the  glorious  future  that 
is  drawing  to  itself  the  hearts  of  men,  and  towards 
it  all  eyes  are  turning.  Thousands  of  years  ago  the 
Hebrew  saw  it  and  proclaimed  its  coming.  When  all 
the  world  around  lay  buried  in  sleep  and  darkness 
he  stood  upon  the  mountain  summit  and  caught  the 
earliest  ray  of  the  ascending  dawn.  In  prayer  and 
psalm  and  prophecy,  in  the  matchless  splendor  of 
oriental  speech,  he  delivered  his  message  and  taught 
the  world  his  truth — justice  universal,  eternal,  tri 
umphant. 

No  people  was  ever  oppressed  like  these  people. 
No  people  was  ever  so  persecuted,  so  trodden  upon, 
so  prostrate.  Yet  none  has  triumphed  so  magnifi 
cently.  Israel's  ideal  of  justice  has  taken  permanent 
possession  of  the  human  mind.  Torn  asunder  by 
faction,  driven  from  his  country,  scattered  to  the 
four  winds  of  heaven,  scourged  up  and  down  the 
highways  of  the  world,  stretched  upon  the  rack, 
burned  at  the  stake,  massacred  by  the  hundred  thou 
sand,  a  wanderer  friendless  and  homeless,  through 
the  centuries,  despised  by  the  world  he  was  liber 
ating  from  its  idols,  Israel  has  stamped  his  ideal  of 
justice  upon  the  human  consciousness  itself,  and 
lives  in  every  upward  movement  of  the  race.  I  do 
not  forget — though  for  the  moment  I  may  seem  to 
do  so — I  do  not  forget  what  other  races  have  contri 
buted  to  the  common  store — Athens  and  Italy  their 
sense  of  beauty,  Sparta  and  Rome  their  love  of  dis 
cipline  and  order,  Gaul  and  Germany  their  zeal  for 
liberty,  England  and  America  the  everblessed  union 
of  liberty  under  law.  I  do  not  forget  what  your  own 
gifted  race  has  wrought  in  other  ways — in  war  and 


342  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

state-craft,  in  music,  art,  poetry,  science,  history, 
philosophy — but,  compared  with  the  meaning  and 
majesty  of  this  achievement,  every  other  work  you 
have  accomplished,  every  triumph  of  every  other 
people  sinks  into  insignificance.  Give  up  every 
other  claim  to  the  world's  gratitude  before  you  sur 
render  this:  The  world  owes  its  conception  of  Jus 
tice  to  the  Jew." 

No  speech  that  evening  made  a  more  deep  and 
lasting  impression  than  this  wonderful  oration. 

RESPONSE  OF  HON.  JOSEPH  G.  CANNON  ON 
"OUR  COUNTRY" 

Mr.  Toast  master,  Citizens: 

God,  the  first  cause,  responsible  for  the  universe 
and  all  the  human  family.  His  children  working 
out  his  original  intentions  from  one  century  to  an 
other.  We  know  not  why,  but  we  do  know  that  the 
Father  under  universal  Law  will  care  for  the  crea 
tures  that  he  created.  "Shalom  alechem."  Not 
only  with  you  be  peace,  but  with  all  the  human 
family.  Jew,  Gentile,  bond,  free,  wise,  ignorant- 
all  !  Away  back  in  the  beginning  so  far  as  we  know 
of  your  race,  was  that  great  master  and  prophet, 
Abraham.  You,  in  common  with  all  the  human 
family  have  advanced,  step  by  step  and  century  by 
century  after  hundreds  of  years  in  bondage,  after 
years  in  the  desert  under  the  leadership  of  Moses, 
preparing  to  enter  the  promised  land. 

The  Jew  has  been  persecuted  since  Jerusalem  prac 
tically  disappeared — yet  upon  the  whole  the  Hebrew 
has  thrived  upon  persecution  as  I  look  in  your  face 
tonight  and  upon  your  brothers,  your  professors, 
your  Rabbis,  your  capitalists.  I  am  glad  that  in  the 


JOSEPH  G.  CANNON 

SPEAKER  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 
1910 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  343 

United  States  we  have  a  citizenship  where  each  man 
under  the  law  has  an  equal  chance.  Once  in  a  while 
we  have  dissensions.  Back  in  England,  so  magnifi 
cently  represented  by  the  Ambassador,  Mr.  Bryce,  it 
is  in  comparatively  recent  times,  when  about  the 
time  of  the  Protector,  the  Puritan  abounding  and 
being  on  top  there,  having  been  persecuted,  when  he 
had  power,  turned  with  a  strong  hand  on  those  who 
did  not  agree  with  him.  It  is  the  same  spirit  which 
led  the  Puritan  in  olden  times  to  kill  a  cat  on  Mon 
day  for  killing  a  rat  on  Sunday.  And  across  the 
continent,  across  the  ocean,  the  Puritan  in  those 
days  had  a  monopoly  on  religion  and  on  politics. 

One-half  of  me,  almost,  is  Quaker.  My  ancestors 
on  that  side  settled  in  Massachusetts  about  the  time 
Roger  Williams  was  banished  and  went  down  to 
Providence  Plantations  with  the  Quakers  to  escape 
hanging,  went  over  to  Nantucket,  the  Coffins  and  the 
Folgers — I  have  a  strain  of  that  blood.  On  the  other 
side,  however,  it  is  not  quite  so  peaceful — if  you  will 
pardon  me,  for  I  am  not  profane,  but  wish  to  de 
scribe  in  simple  words  so  that  you  may  know,  the 

other  half — that  side  is — "D Irish,"  so  to  speak. 

Once  in  a  while  it  grows  uncomfortable  here. 

Now  all  Hebrews  are  not  wise.  They  say  on  the 
other  side  that  labor  is  as  well  reared  there  as  it  is 
on  this  side,  in  the  United  States.  I  will  not  argue 
the  question,  but  will  ask  friends  who  say  so,  why  is 
it,  with  the  gates  swinging  inwards,  there  comes 
from  eight  hundred  thousand  to  twelve  hundred 
thousand  horny-handed  sons  of  toil  to  the  free  land 
of  our's  every  year?  The  only  explanation  is  that 
here  is  a  better  opportunity  for  the  man,  woman  and 
child.  That  is  sufficient  upon  that.  But  once  in  a 


344  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

while,  under  the  leadership  of  Americans  proper, 
and  once  in  a  while  supplemented  by  some  Hebrews, 
it  remains  for  an  English  Jew  to  lead  the  crusade  to 
apply  the  educational  test  for  immigrants.  Oh!  If 
that  test  had  been  applied  two  hundred  years  ago  1 
have  ancestors  who  never  would  have  gotten  in.  And 
instead  of  standing  and  looking  you  in  the  eye  and 
talking  to  you,  there  would  have  been  a  little  bit  of 
me  in  Ireland,  and  probably  a  little  bit  in  Alsace. 
But  this  was  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the 
brave!  7  have  never  been  in  harmony  with  the 
proposition  to  apply  the  educational  test.  The  Cau 
casian  race,  and  we  all  belong  to  that  race,  in  all 
times  has  made  good.  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face 
shalt  thou  eat  bread  all  thy  life."  I  do  not  know 
whether  Deity  gave  that  piety  to  some  other  wise 
law  giver,  but  it  is  literally  true,  and  I  am  not  here 
as  having  one  vote  in  the  national  legislature  to  shut 
the  door  in  the  face  of  any  of  the  Caucasian  race  that 
are  willing  to  come,  whether  they  be  educated  or 
uneducated,  and  under  the  hand  of  honest,  earned 
bread,  the  common  schools  will  take  care  of  the 
children. 

Many  great  characters  have  been  contributed  di 
rectly,  or  by  descent  from  England,  Ireland,  Scot 
land  and  Germany,  many  great  characters,  Hebrew 
and  Christian,  so-called,  and  as  I  look  in  your  faces 
I  want  to  compliment  you.  As  this  great  bulk  of 
immigration  comes  in,  subjects  of  the  Czar,  subjects 
of  persecution,  be  it  said  to  the  honor  of  the  Hebrew 
race,  we  very  rarely  find  one  in  the  poor  house,  they 
are  willing  to  work  and  they  add  so  much  to  the 
progress  of  the  country. 

I  do  not  know  that  it  is  for  me  to  further  continue 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  345 

my  remarks,  but  before  I  sit  down  may  I  say  one 
thing:  we  get  something  by  heredity,  we  are  more 
fortunate  than  the  sons  of  Africa,  the  dark  continent. 
What  the  multiplied  thousands  of  years  may  bring 
to  them  I  know  not;  what  it  has  brought  to  us  I  have 
a  faint  suspicion  of.  Somebody  said  that  God  could 
not  get  along  without  men  working  under  universal 
law.  I  apprehend  that  that  is  true,  and  with  ninety 
millions  of  us  in  this  country,  may  men  of  many 
minds  appealing  to  the  people  every  two  and  four 
years,  for  a  man  to  speak  for  that  ninety  millions  of 
people  requires  organization  through  parties,  and 
progress  can  not  be  had  otherwise  than  by  organiza 
tion.  If  the  B'nai  B'rith,  however  much  it  may  dwell 
in  your  hearts  and  in  your  brains,  if  each  man  was 
hoeing  his  own  row  and  you  were  without  organiza 
tion,  you  would  make  no  considerable  impress  in  the 
leadership  of  your  brethren,  or  upon  the  citizenship 
at  large.  It  is  organization:  A  two-fold  cord  is 
strong,  a  three-fold  cord  is  stronger,  a  four-fold  cord 
is  even  stronger,  and  not  easily  broken,  and  I  have 
but  very  little  use  for  the  self-constituted  wise  men 
that  abound  here  and  there  throughout  the  country, 
that  decry  organization  and  will  not  co-operate.  If 
you  want  to  co-operate  with  any  organization  that 
ever  has  been  upon  this  round  earth,  or  ever  will  be 
in  the  tide  of  time,  for  perfection,  you  never  will 
organize.  Organization  is  here,  organization  is  mul 
tiplied  hundred  of  thousands  of  instances,  corpora 
tions,  co-operation  and  organizations  by  which  peo 
ple  believe  in  the  policy  of  co-operating  together. 
Once  in  a  while  you  find  men  that  are  in  a  political 
organization  that  would  not  play  because  it  can  not 
be  perfect  from  their  standpoint.  Out  on  the  Wabash 


346  THE   PRESIDENTS   I    HAVE   KNOWN 

several  decades  ago  the  good  Methodists  got  together 
and  wanted  to  forsake  the  little  old  log  church  and 
build  a  new  one.  They  raised  the  money,  but  they 
began  to  quarrel,  not  about  the  size  of  the  church 
building,  no,  no;  they  all  agreed  about  the  size,  they 
agreed  about  everything,  except  there  was  one  toppy 
kind  of  an  individual  that  was  one  of  the  largest 
contributors,  who  said  that  church  should  not  be 
built  unless  it  was  covered  with  slate.  And  there 
was  a  split,  you  know,  and  the  church  building  never 
was  constructed.  Now  that  contrary  brother  had 
better  considered  shingles  to  shut  out  the  rain  than 
to  have  had  no  church  building  at  all.  Protection 
resides  only  with  God.  Wise  men,  courageous  men, 
in  business,  in  politics,  in  working  out  the  best  in 
terests  of  the  country  through  organizations,  choos 
ing  wise  politics,  will  approach  perfection,  and  the 
man  or  the  men  from  the  standpoint  of  ambition  or 
demagoguery,  proclaim  against  what  has  been  en 
acted  and  may  be  enacted  because  he  or  they  can 
take  a  microscope  and  find  imperfection  here  or 
there,  is  either  an  impractical  individual  or  a  first- 
class  demagogue  and  we  have  several  of  them  in 
this  country. 

Among  other  notable  speakers  of  the  evening  were 
ex-Secretary  of  State  John  W.  Foster,  Admiral  Win- 
field  Scott  Schley,  Terrence  V.  Powderly,  ex-Com 
missioner  General  of  Immigration;  Hon.  Cuno  H. 
Rudolph,  President  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the 
District  of  Columbia;  Mr.  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Mr.  Adolf 
Kraus,  president  of  the  Order;  Martin  A.  Marks, 
president  of  the  Convention,  and  Jacob  Furth,  mem 
ber  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Order. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  347 

During  the  Convention  President  Taft  extended  a 
reception  to  the  delegates  and  their  friends,  and  he 
greeted  many  of  them  as  old  friends.  An  auto 
graphed  photograph  of  the  President  was  presented 
to  each  member  of  the  Convention.  Also  an  auto 
graphed  copy  of  the  hook,  "John  Marvel,"  written 
by  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  who  is  now  our  Ambassa 
dor  to  Rome,  was  presented  to  the  wives  of  the  dele 
gates.  Page  was  a  classmate  of  Leo  N.  Levi,  and 
the  Jewish  student  mentioned  in  the  book  is  intended 
for  our  lamented  leader,  Levi. 

A  notable  incident  in  connection  with  this  Con 
vention  was  the  oration  delivered  by  Rev.  Dr.  E.  N. 
Calisch,  of  Richmond,  at  the  Tomb  of  Washington. 
No  one  who  was  present  will  ever  forget  the  singular 
and  yet  appropriate  occurrence  when  the  Doctor 
spoke  of  the  clouds  and  doubts  that  hung  over  the 
fate  of  the  Republic  when  Washington  was  strug 
gling  for  victory,  but  that  the  sun  of  righteousness 
and  justice  at  last  shone  over  a  free  people.  The 
day  had  been  very  cloudy,  and  there  was  a  sort  of 
a  kaleidoscopic  shifting  of  clouds  and  sun.  As  the 
Doctor  closed  that  sentence,  the  sun  emerged  out  of 
a  dense  cloud  and  made  the  scene  resplendent  and 
historical. 

On  January  19,  1913,  at  the  celebration  of  the 
seventieth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Inde 
pendent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  held  under  the  auspi 
ces  of  the  B'nai  B'rith  Lodges  of  New  York  City,  at 
Temple  Beth-El,  President  Taft  and  myself  were  in 
vited  to  be  the  orators  of  the  evening.  The  two 
addresses  are  given  herewith  at  length,  as  they  mark 
an  important  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Order  of 
B'nai  B'rith,  and  American  Judaism  as  well. 


348  THE  PRESIDENTS  I  HAVE  KNOWN 

PRESIDENT  TAFT'S  SPEECH. 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  B'nai  B'rith: 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  come  here  and  attend  this 
noteworthy  celebration.  A  great  pleasure  for  me 
because  your  association  but  recently  did  me  the 
honor  to  present  to  me  a  beautiful  testimonial  ex 
pressing  their  good  will  and  conferring  on  me  what 
I  can  not  but  think  an  undeserved  honor — but  they 
do  not  come  so  often  that  you  would  decline  them 
because  you  don't  deserve  them.  Yours  is  a  great 
association  founded  seventy  years  ago;  it  has  ex 
tended  its  usefulness,  its  influence  around  the  globe. 
Seventy  years  in  the  life  of  the  Jewish  race  is  very 
short.  It  is  a  young  institution  with  you,  and  it  is 
for  me  of  great  significance  that  it  represents  the 
desire  of  the  Jewish  race  to  benefit  mankind — a  de 
sire  that  has  persisted  in  that  race  after  it  came 
under  the  influence  and  came  to  understand  the 
benefits  of  free  government  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  as  it  were  a  chance  given  to  the  flower  and 
bloom  of  the  Jewish  race  after  it  had  the  opportunity 
without  restraint  and  under  the  canopy  of  freedom 
to  show  its  beneficent  desires  and  the  possibilities 
which  it  had  in  joining  with  other  peoples  in  this 
country  to  make  it  the  greatest  in  the  world. 

Something  over  four  hundred  lodges  down  to  1898 
had  disposed  of  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  in 
sick  benefits,  in  payments  to  widows  and  orphans,  in 
the  construction  of  charitable  institutions  and  in 
other  charities.  Now  between  1898  and  now — I  do 
not  know  that  there  are  any  statistics,  but  judging 
from  the  natural  increase — what  has  been  done  in 
that  decade,  I  should  be  surprised  if  you  have  not 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  349 

nearly  doubled  the  hundred  million  and  made  it  two 
hundred  millions  in  the  disposition  of  charity  the 
world  over. 

The  study  of  the  history  of  the  Jewish  race  brings 
to  one  not  of  it  a  profound  admiration  for  a  race 
whose  virtues  have  enabled  it  to  live  against  all 
abuses,  against  all  intolerances,  against  all  unkind- 
ness.  It  is  a  little  like,  though  in  a  different  way,  the 
feeling  you  have  towards  a  race  like  that  which  went 
to  New  England  where  there  was  no  soil  worth  cul 
tivating  on  any  scale,  where  there  was  very  little  to 
encourage  one  to  take  out  the  earth's  wealth,  yet 
there  in  those  places  it  was,  where  there  was  the 
least  encouragement,  that  the  strongest  men  seem  to 
have  been  made. 

It  is  against  obstacles,  it  is  where  you  have  trou 
bles  to  overcome,  where  you  have  to  meet  injustice 
and  abuse,  the  strength  of  human  character  is 
brought  out  and  developed;  and  those  characteris 
tics,  patience,  persistence,  forbearance  and  tolerance, 
and  a  brotherhood  among  yourselves,  that  extends 
over  the  world  at  large,  are  the  qualities  that  have 
made  your  race  live  and  now  to  consist  of  so  impor 
tant  a  part  of  this  American  nation. 

Of  course  we  say  we  Americans  look  back  to  En 
gland  as  our  mother  country,  and  it  is,  but  I  like  to 
think  of  America  as  made  up  of  a  great  many  dif 
ferent  elements,  and  Americans  as  an  amalgamated 
race,  drawing  their  virtues  from  all  over  the  world, 
and  making  a  different  race  from  that  of  any  one  of 
the  peoples  from  whom  we  come.  It  is  pleasant  to 
look  about  and  to  see  where  we  derive  certain  ben 
efits  that  we  would  not  have  had  had  we  descended 
only  from  one  country  and  one  people. 


350  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Now  from  the  Jews  what  do  we  get?  From  these 
people  we  get  a  love  of  liberty  and  a  love  of  the 
guarantees  of  the  rights  of  equality  in  any  individual, 
a  spirit  that  those  Americans  that  have  lived  always 
here  are  not  quite  able  to  appreciate.  I  think  that 
this  is  one  of  the  most  important  facts  that  the 
present  situation  presents. 

I  don't  like  to  dip  into  politics,  for  I  don't  seem  to 
have  been  a  grand  success,  but  one  of  the  things 
that  comes  over  me  every  little  while  is  the  sense 
that  the  American  people  will  have  to  be  educated 
over  again  in  the  lessons  of  liberty  regulated  by  law 
and  will  have  to  be  taught  again  the  real  value  of 
the  rights  they  now  have  and  the  guarantees  and 
restraints  of  the  constitution  under  which  they  enjoy 
their  security. 

We  are  apt,  after  we  have  enjoyed  a  thing  of 
great  value,  to  forget  its  value,  rather  to  undervalue 
it,  and  to  forget  that  it  needs  preservation  in  order 
that  it  should  have  value,  to  forget  the  danger  that 
somebody  may  steal  it  from  us.  We  are  smug  about 
it.  We  think  of  all  these  rights  of  freedom  to  wor 
ship  God  as  you  choose,  freedom  to  walk  the  streets 
and  to  choose  what  business  you  wish;  freedom  to 
hold  the  property  that  you  want;  an  opportunity  to 
go  into  court  and  have  all  those  rights  assured,  that 
are  in  the  constitution — we  are  used  to  the  benefit  of 
an  independent  judiciary  by  which  we  are  enabled 
to  secure  those  rights  through  our  own  instrumen 
talities  by  direct  application  to  the  courts.  All  those 
things  are  so  much  a  matter  of  course  that  we  do  not 
think  they  are  rights;  we  just  think  they  are  neces 
sities,  that  will  come  along  anyhow,  and  that  we  can 
change  those  restraints  and  those  guarantees  and 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  351 

withdraw  them  without  danger  to  our  rights,  and  we 
undervalue  them. 

Now  I  think  we  may  well  appeal  to  a  Jewish  audi 
ence  that  have  felt  the  injustice  among  their  co 
religionists  in  other  countries,  of  the  withholding  of 
such  rights,  who  through  a  better  study  of  the  skill 
of  asserting,  maintaining  and  securing  and  preserv 
ing  those  rights,  to  bring  to  the  country  at  large  a 
sense  of  the  value  of  the  things  we  now  enjoy  and 
the  necessity  for  preserving  them  and  never  allow 
ing  the  guarantees  to  the  Constitution  for  preserving 
them  to  be  in  any  degree  impaired  or  modified. 

I  never  was  quite  so  much  impressed,  never  had 
my  patriotism  so  much  aroused,  as  I  did  in  visiting 
the  East  Side.  Going  among  those  people,  who  had 
come  over  within  the  last  decade,  and  whose  chil 
dren  are  only  8,  9, 10  and  15  years  of  age,  and  seeing 
them  respond  to  the  flag  and  hearing  them  singing 
the  national  anthem,  and  seeing  in  them  the  appre 
ciation  of  the  fact  that  they  were  American  citizens 
and  entitled  to  enjoy  all  the  liberties,  it  seemed  to 
me  as  if  they  understood  and  knew  better  than  those 
of  us  that  had  been  brought  up  here  and  always 
thought  that  these  things  are  matters  of  course  and 
that  there  was  no  oppression  anywhere  and  no  in 
equality. 

Now  what  else  have  the  Jews  added  to  our  civiliza 
tion?  Well,  they  have  brought  into  our  community 
a  high  artistic  sense.  As  one  grows  older  he  learns 
a  good  many  things  that  may  have  been  neglected 
in  his  youth  and  that  he  is  ashamed  to  admit  he  had 
neglected.  He  learns  to  appreciate  the  pursuit  of 
happiness  in  every  direction;  in  the  study  of  lan 
guage,  in  the  study  of  all  art,  music,  painting.  I  can 


352  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

remember  I  was  a  philistine  and  thought  anybody 
that  went  to  an  orchestra  concert  and  heard  them 
just  preparing  to  play — apparently  in  some  way  they 
were  working  the  bows  of  the  violins,  and  were  do 
ing  something  that  hardly  seemed  worth  while — but 
I  became  the  driver  of  an  orchestra;  that  is,  Mrs. 
Taft  became  the  president  of  the  Orchestra  Associa 
tion  and  I  was  given  the  responsibility  for  raising 
$30,000  in  addition  to  the  receipts  in  order  that  we 
might  maintain  an  orchestra  concert,  a  series  of 
them,  and  then  I  had  to  become  educated.  That  is 
one  thing  I  think  the  Jews  recognize,  the  discipline 
of  the  family,  and  we  found  if  we  hadn't  had  the 
Jews  in  Cincinnati  we  would  not  have  had  the  or 
chestra.  Their  love  of  music,  their  love  of  the  best 
kind  of  music,  which  indeed  is  a  high  art,  that  ele 
vates  us  in  this  country  and  neutralizes  the  puritan- 
ism,  if  I  may  call  it  such,  and  the  commercialism  to 
which  we  tend  when  we  do  not  have  these  diversions, 
and  do  not  have  this  opportunity  for  the  pursuit  of 
happiness  in  artistic  directions. 

Something  has  been  said  of  the  influence  of  other 
countries,  the  lack  of  equality  of  treatment  because 
of  religious  prejudices.  It  does  exist  in  other  coun 
tries  and  we  must  face  the  fact,  but  we  must  hope 
that  the  happiness  that  we  have  in  this  country 
where  we  make  everyone  equal  in  that  regard  and 
in  every  way  that  we  can,  will  have  its  beneficial 
effect  the  world  over.  Of  course  that  kind  of  influ 
ence  does  not  work  directly,  does  not  work  by  con 
trast,  but  it  works  notwithstanding.  Great  progress 
has  already  been  made,  as  you  know,  in  many  coun 
tries,  and  the  attitude  of  the  American  people  on  that 
subject  expressed  from  time  to  time,  as  it  has  been, 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  353 

can  not  but  bring  about  a  better  condition,  and  in 
bringing  it  about  it  is  the  great  privilege  to  all  of  us, 
to  you  and  to  me,  and  to  all  of  us  as  American  citi 
zens,  that  it  is  our  form  of  government  and  our  suc 
cess  in  maintaining  it,  that  gives  force  and  weight  to 
our  example.  Now  I  know  I  need  not  preach  pa 
tience  to  a  people  that  have  been  patient  for  as  many 
thousands  of  years  as  you  have,  I  needn't  preach 
persistence  and  determination  to  bring  about  a  re 
sult,  a  just  result,  for  your  co-religionists.  I  can 
only  say  in  words  of  encouragement,  that  I  believe 
conditions  warrant  its  coming,  maybe  not  in  your 
time,  or  in  mine,  but  it  is  coming  step  by  step.  I  do 
not  believe  in  progress  over  night  at  any  rate.  Noth 
ing  has  been  done  in  this  world  that  was  worth  hav 
ing,  that  did  not  take  a  great  deal  of  effort,  and  did 
not  involve  a  great  many  defects. 

I  did  have  a  dream  that  we  were  going  to  take  a 
long  step  in  the  matter  of  peace  between  nations.  I 
had  a  theory  that  if  we  could  get  up  a  treaty  with 
England  and  then  another  with  France,  in  which  we 
should  agree  to  arbitrate  everything  that  was  arbi 
trable,  including  questions  of  honor  and  questions 
of  vital  interest,  and  if  we  could  arrange  it,  so  that 
we  left  it  to  an  independent  tribunal  to  determine 
whether  the  question  we  did  raise  came  within  that 
class  or  not,  so  that  by  two  such  treaties  successfully 
contracted  we  could  induce  our  own  people  to  make 
treaties  of  the  same  sort  with  all  the  other  nations 
and  that  all  the  other  nations  would  come  in  and 
make  similar  treaties  with  each  other,  and  by  that 
interlocking  and  interlacing  device  we  could  have  an 
arbitral  court  in  which  every  nation  which  felt 
wronged  by  another  could  bring  about  justice,  the 


354  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

authority  of  the  court  being  backed  by  the  united 
force  of  all  the  world  bound  together  by  such  a 
series  of  treaties.  Now  that  was  my  dream.  I  got 
the  first  step;  that  is,  we  got  the  first  two  treaties 
with  England  and  France,  and  then  I  woke  up.  I 
found  that  there  were  distinguished  lawyers  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  that  thought  that  such  a 
result  would  in  some  way  or  other  detract  from  the 
dignity  of  the  Senate  in  that  it  could  not  bind  itself 
to  do  something  it  ought  to  do  years  hence,  that  it 
must  know  at  the  time  whether  it  ought  to  do  it  and 
not  anticipate  its  decision. 

Well,  that  view  prevailed,  and  then  the  treaties 
were  so  amended  that  a  great  deal  I  thought  valu 
able  was  stricken  out,  and  perhaps  there  is  enough 
left  to  make  it  worth  while  to  have  them  ratified,  but 
the  main  great  idea  was  eliminated  for  the  time 
being. 

But,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  it  is  bound  to  come.  It 
doubtless  will  not  be  in  our  time,  but  that  will  mark 
a  step,  and  every  agreement  between  England  and 
France  on  the  one  side  and  the  Executive  of  this 
country  on  the  other  will  form  some  sort  of  a  mile 
stone  and  some  sort  of  an  example  which  will  help 
the  cause  in  the  future. 

That  is  the  way  in  which  things  are  accomplished. 
You  go  forward  and  then  fall  backwards  a  little,  but 
if  you  are  still  progressing  onward,  the  cause  of 
progress  is  not  to  be  defeated  and  we  ought  not  to 
l>e  disappointed.  We  are  civilized  people,  we  have 
got  beyond  the  time  when  if  we  have  a  personal  dif 
ference  we  go  out  and  shoot  each  other.  It  is  rather 
hard  now  to  justify  a  proposition  that  if  a  man  in 
sults  me,  it  satisfies  me  and  my  honor  to  go  out  on 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  355 

the  so-called  field  of  honor  and  let  him  shoot  at  me, 
because  he  insulted  me,  when  I  am  such  a  good 
mark.  It  was  that  disparity  that  enabled  society  at 
large  to  laugh  at  the  code-duello  and  the  practice  of 
duelling.  Now  it  is  more  absurd  as  a  matter  of  jus 
tice,  as  a  matter  of  permanent  progress  towards 
righteousness,  that  when  two  nations  disagree  they 
should  go  to  work  and  fight  out  the  question  and  in 
that  way  decide  what  the  right  of  it  is.  It  depends 
upon  the  number  of  troops,  the  strength  of  the  bat 
talions  and  a  good  artillery  and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 
It  does  not  depend  upon  anything  else,  and  a  settle 
ment  that  way  is  not  a  settlement  that  appeals  to 
civilized  man,  and  yet  that  is  the  only  way  we  have 
now,  unless  negotiations  will  help  us  to  a  solution. 
I  can  not  believe  that  the  world  is  going  to  tolerate 
it,  I  do  not  believe  it,  and  therefore  I  hope  not,  in 
spite  of  the  nightmare  the  Senate  gave  me. 

I  have  referred  to  the  fact  that  this  association  is 
great  in  its  usefulness,  because  of  the  actual  chari 
ties  that  it  disposes.  It  is  great  because  of  the  exam 
ple  that  it  offers  the  world.  I  don't  know  exactly 
why,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Jewish  charities  are  the 
greatest  charities  in  any  society.  They  are  the  most 
perfect,  and  I  must  think  that  it  is  due  to  the  spirit 
of  brotherhood  that  has  been  developed  in  your  race 
by  your  common  burdens.  In  your  early  history, 
when  every  man  was  against  you,  and  when  you 
stood  together  to  live  as  a  race  and  to  carry  on  life, 
and  a  great  history  it  is,  you  saw  to  it  that  every  man 
and  woman  in  that  race  had  all  the  rights  you  could 
give  him  to  enable  them  to  live  and  to  live  happy. 

I  believe  that  is  the  secret  of  brotherhood  that 
you  have.  It  is  the  secret  of  the  charity  that  you 


356  THE   PRESIDENTS   I    HAVE   KNOWN 

have  towards  each  other,  that  you  have  created 
charity  for  your  near  brothers,  and  it  is  not  a  bit 
hard  to  understand  that,  as  we  have  had  every  rea 
son  to  see  it  throughout  the  world.  And  now,  my 
friends,  as  you  will  testify,  I  did  not  come  here  to 
make  a  speech,  only  a  few  desultory  remarks,  but 
I  hoped  that  in  this  way  I  could  be  able  to  commu 
nicate  to  you  the  gratitude  I  feel  towards  your  asso 
ciation  for  its  kindly  testimonial  to  me,  and  the 
profound  admiration  I  have  for  the  association — for 
the  race  that  made  it  possible." 

After  President  Taft  had  finished  this  magnificent 
and  most  gratifying  tribute  to  the  Jewish  people,  and 
their  services  to  the  country  at  large,  particularly  in 
upholding  law  and  order  and  individual  rights,  as 
representative  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Order,  I  delivered  the  following  oration: 

"When  on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1776,  the  bell 
rang  out  the  gladsome  tidings  of  the  birth  of  a  new 
nation,  founded  on  liberty  and  equality,  it  was  not 
only  a  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  coun 
try,  but  also  to  all  the  struggling  people  throughout 
the  world.  And  the  echo  of  those  ringing,  clanging 
notes  of  the  Independence  Bell  are  still  circling  the 
world  in  their  potent  influence  for  the  uplift  and 
betterment  of  mankind. 

From  the  earliest  days  of  the  Republic's  history 
immigration  was  an  important  factor  in  its  develop 
ment  and  progress.  The  founders  of  the  Republic 
saw  the  value  and  the  necessity  of  encouraging  such 
immigration,  and  sent  agents  abroad  to  stimulate  the 
inflow  of  the  deserving  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
to  make  this  their  home  and  the  land  of  promise. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  357 

From  that  day  to  this,  there  has  been  a  constant 
flood  of  immigration  that  has  enriched  every  por 
tion  of  our  land,  and  produced  results  that  have 
made  the  country  greater,  stronger,  and  in  every  line 
of  human  endeavor  more  and  more  a  potentiality 
for  the  elevation  and  prosperity  of  humanity.  Natu 
rally  the  people  of  the  Bible,  the  people  who  have 
strengthened  civilization,  who  have  at  all  times  been 
law-abiding  and  orderly,  were  among  the  first  to  see 
the  great  advantages  and  opportunities  that  this 
Republic  afforded,  and  as  history  has  abundantly 
shown,  not  only  from  the  standpoint  of  Jewish  his 
torians,  but  from  that  of  non-Jews  no  less,  the  Amer 
ican  citizens  of  Jewish  faith  have  contributed  their 
brawn  and  brain  in  peace  and  in  war,  and  have 
never  been  recreant  to  the  solemn  obligations  they 
owe  to  American  institutions,  and  in  exemplifying  in 
the  highest  degree  the  grandeur  and  power  of  Amer 
ican  citizenship. 

And  thus  seventy  years  ago  a  Spartan  band  of 
American  citizens,  whose  ancestry  went  back  to  the 
dawn  of  civilization,  conceived  the  idea  of  forming 
an  organization  that  should  be  a  helpmeet,  not  only 
to  those  who  were  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Re 
public,  but  also  those  who  were  yet  to  come  from 
lands  of  oppression  and  tyranny.  They  had  unfor 
tunately  experienced  the  sting  of  social  ostracism 
that  here  and  there  still  prevails,  to  the  disgrace  of 
the  community  in  which  it  is  practiced,  and  of  the 
individuals  who  instill  it,  and  they  wisely  concluded 
that  although  living  in  a  Republic  where  every  ave 
nue  to  advancement  was  supposed  to  be  open  to  each 
and  every  citizen,  and  where  liberty  of  thought  and 
opinions  dominated,  that  an  organization  exclusively 


358  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

composed  of  Jews  would  be  a  betterment  not  only 
to  the  individual  member,  but  to  the  Republic  itself, 
and  in  that  lofty  spirit  and  in  that  conception  of 
higher  ideals,  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith 
was  founded,  not  as  a  menace,  but  as  a  safeguard,  as 
a  school  in  which  the  individual,  ignorant  of  the  lan 
guage  of  the  country,  and  ignorant  of  parliamentary 
proceedings,  might  be  taught  the  sacred  duties  of 
American  citizenship;  where  he  would  be  among 
brethren  of  his  own  faith;  where  he  would  learn  the 
love  of  law  and  order,  without  being  made  the  sub 
ject  of  harsh  criticism  on  the  part  of  those  who  did 
not  understand  his  characteristics,  and  who  would  be 
fain  to  flout  their  superior  knowledge. 

Thus  the  lodge  room  became  a  source  of  vital  im 
portance,  and  from  its  midst  have  gone  forth  into 
the  outer  world  of  American  citizenship  and  respon 
sibilities,  men  of  the  highest  character  and  standing, 
who  have  filled  important  places  in  civic  life,  and 
who  have  stood  in  the  forefront  on  the  battlefield, 
sacrificing  their  lives  and  fortunes  to  aid  in  preserv 
ing  the  Republic  of  the  founders,  and  in  which  their 
own  ancestors  had  taken  an  honorable  part.  And 
that  spirit  of  educational  fraternization,  that  spirit 
of  virile  American  citizenship,  is  still  maintained, 
and  not  only  the  brotherhood  of  the  Jew,  but  the 
brotherhood  of  all  men  is  taught  within  the  lodge 
room ;  the  charity  that  is  born  of  the  divine  spark  of 
kinship,  the  regard  for  the  feelings  of  each  and  every 
one  and,  chief  above  all,  that  patriotism  is  the  ark  to 
which  all  pay  devotion,  and  the  flag  of  our  country 
is  made  the  symbol  of  realization  and  future  hope. 

When  the  founders  of  the  Order  started  this  or 
ganization  they  had  no  conception  that  it  would  grow 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  359 

out  of  a  purely  local  into  not  only  a  national  but  an 
international  organization,  but  such  has  been  the 
consummation,  and  today  the  Order  is  most  potent 
in  all  parts  of  Europe,  and  even  Asia.  The  very  best 
elements  of  society  have  become  brethren,  and  the 
interchange  of  communal  work  and  of  national  and 
international  aspirations  have  become  the  talisman 
by  which  great  good  has  been  achieved.  We  no 
longer  need  to  await  the  word  from  the  outside 
world  as  to  our  duty,  when  wrongs  are  committed, 
when  massacres  are  perpetrated,  when  religious  per 
secutions  are  practiced,  when  want  and  misery  by 
virtue  of  war  and  disease  appeals  to  our  higher 
nature,  and  to  our  philanthropic  impulses,  the  Order 
receives  its  summons  direct,  having  planted  the  flag 
of  brotherly  love  and  harmony  in  every  community 
of  the  world,  and  thus  even  within  the  last  few  weeks 
the  Order  sent  out  its  ringing  notes  for  help  for  the 
Balkan  States,  which  has  been  promptly  and  most 
liberally  responded  to. 

But  the  Order  has  never  been  one-sided — although 
Jewish,  it  has  at  all  times  been  cosmopolitan,  and 
helped  to  smoothen  the  pathway  of  men,  irrespective 
of  faith.  It  has  given  living  example  of  that  splendid 
citizenship  which  became  the  dominant  characteris 
tic  of  George  Washington,  the  founder;  of  Lincoln, 
the  emancipator,  and  of  Taft,  the  constitutional  pre 
server.  It  is  the  only  organization  in  the  United 
States,  nay,  you  might  say  in  the  world,  that  has 
given  a  plastic  exemplification  of  "religious  liberty" 
in  the  shape  of  a  monument,  which  stands  in  the  City 
of  Brotherly  Love  in  Fairmount  Park — that  city 
where  liberty  of  conscience  was  born  on  the  fourth 
of  July,  1776,  and  which  statue  was  chiseled  by  an 


360  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

American  citizen  of  Jewish  faith,  and  a  member  of 
the  Order,  Sir  Mosely  Ezekiel,  of  Richmond,  Va., 
now  of  Rome,  Italy.  It  grasped  also  the  importance 
of  sending  a  missionary  to  Roumania,  which  was 
financially  supported  by  the  Order,  not  to  proselyte 
for  our  faith,  but  to  speak  in  ringing  notes  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  Jews  in  that  then,  as  now,  be 
nighted  country.  Eternal  gratitude  is  due  to  Presi 
dent  Grant,  who  accredited  one  of  our  brethren, 
Benjamin  F.  Peixotto,  and  gave  him  a  letter  of 
credence  which  breathed  the  loftiest  spirit  of  the 
Republic,  and  told  the  whole  world  that  in  this  coun 
try  we  know  no  difference  between  man  and  man, 
and  that  all  creeds  stood  on  an  equal  plane.  Peix 
otto  did  splendid  work  of  an  educational  as  well  as 
of  a  statesmanlike  character,  and  although  the  effect 
of  his  work  has  not  been  of  a  permanent  character, 
the  traces  of  it  are  still  visible,  and  have  been  of 
great  service  even  recently.  The  founding  of  homes 
for  the  aged,  asylums  for  orphans,  hospitals  for  the 
suffering,  have  been  cardinal  principles  of  the  Order 
since  its  very  inception,  and  are  today  potent  factors 
in  the  humanitarian  work  which  is  becoming  more 
and  more  the  "shibboleth"  to  conjure  with. 

From  the  orphan  homes  of  the  Order  have  gone 
men  and  women  who  have  risen  to  the  highest  posi 
tions  in  the  respective  communities  in  which  they 
reside.  Trade  schools,  technical  institutes,  farm 
schools  and  all  classes  and  shades  of  constructive 
work  have  been  inculcated,  developed,  fostered  and 
protected  by  and  through  the  influence  of  the  Order. 

The  National  Jewish  Hospital  for  Consumptives  at 
Denver,  to  which  the  brotherhood  contributes  liber 
ally,  and  which  is  nonsectarian,  is  another  link  in 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  361 

the  great  chain  of  philanthropic  work.  The  hospital 
at  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  named  after  our  lamented 
leader,  Leo  N.  Levi,  is  one  of  those  healing  institu 
tions  so  essential  and  necessary  to  human  happiness. 

To  the  widows  and  orphans  from  the  earliest  days 
of  the  Order's  existence  up  to  the  present,  and  to 
the  stricken  and  unfortunate  all  over  the  world, 
when  appeals  were  made,  the  Order  has  contributed 
millions  of  dollars,  and  therefore,  even  from  a  ma 
terialistic  standpoint,  is  entitled  to  the  highest  credit 
and  praise. 

Its  Executive  Committee  have  counselled  with  the 
presidents  and  cabinets  of  the  Republic,  have  been 
charged  with  important  duties,  and  recognized  as 
leaders  among  the  best  of  our  citizens.  Only  the 
other  day  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation,  who 
has  honored  us  with  his  presence  tonight,  in  his  ad 
dress  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Order,  after 
it  had  presented  him  with  a  gold  medal  in  recogni 
tion  of  his  broad  and  liberal  views  and  actions,  said 
in  part,  as  follows :  "In  this  country,  at  least,  every 
man,  woman  and  child  is  equal  before  the  law  and 
entitled  to  enjoy  those  rights  that  we  call  inalien 
able;  that  in  this  country  not  only  are  those  rights 
declared  and  secured  by  law,  but  that  there  is  among 
the  people  a  spirit  that  reflects  and  carries  out  the 
principles  of  our  Constitution.  Now,  upon  the  Jew 
ish  people  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  pronounce 
eulogism.  In  their  just  pride  of  their  ancestry  those 
of  us  who  are  not  of  the  Jewish  people  have  to  be 
humble." 

It's  a  glorious  privilege  to  belong  to  a  people  that 
notwithstanding  all  the  trials  and  tribulations  of 
centuries,  notwithstanding  all  the  misery,  horrors 


362  THE    PRESIDENTS    I    HAVE    KNOWN 

and  persecutions  that  they  have  endured,  they  are 
still  the  bodyguard  for  the  advancement  and  better 
ment  of  mankind.  They  give  living  proof  of  that 
wonderful  vitality  which  is  the  bed  rock  of  their 
existence;  of  that  wonderful  love  of  science  and  art, 
and  all  the  refining  influences  of  humanity  which 
from  the  dawn  of  history  has  dominated  and  sur 
charged  the  Jewish  heart  with  love  of  and  for  his 
fellowmen. 

The  Order  is,  as  many  other  factors  in  our  Ameri 
can  citizenship,  helpful  to  bring  about  a  better  un 
derstanding  between  the  respective  nationalities,  and 
to  be  especially  helpful  to  the  incoming  future 
Americans,  to  teach  them  the  difference  between 
law  and  license,  to  instill  into  them  love  of  our  in 
stitutions  and  to  produce  in  them  that  respect  for 
government  and  its  representatives  which  in  other 
lands  is  denied  them  owing  to  persecution. 

No  one  need  fear  for  the  future  of  this  great  Re 
public  as  far  as  the  Jew  is  concerned.  He  has  ex 
perienced  the  sting  of  wrong  and  the  crime  of  bitter 
persecution,  and  therefore  realizes  the  blessings  of 
liberty,  tempered  by  law;  he  realizes  the  equality  of 
brotherhood,  bounded  by  respect  for  each  other;  he 
knows  that  the  promised  land,  as  foretold  by  the 
prophets  of  his  people,  is  in  that  country  where  he 
is  most  happy,  contented,  and  not  only  politically 
but  morally  and  spiritually  free,  and  every  pulse 
beat  of  his  heart  must  be  responsive  to  aiding  and 
strengthening  the  perpetuity  of  this  Republic.  And 
as  the  American  Revolution  was  but  the  forerunner 
of  the  French,  less  its  horrors,  and  as  the  cause  of 
Ireland  has  been  fought  out  in  this  country  and  not 
in  England,  so  the  Jews  of  the  world  have  received 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  363 

their  impetus  to  higher  ideals  of  political  science, 
and  the  direct  accomplishment  of  higher  activities 
by  and  through  the  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  which  has 
awakened  in  other  lands  an  interest  in  and  on  behalf 
of  the  spirit  of  righteousness.  It  is  true,  it  may  have 
been  wireless,  but  nevertheless  potent.  It  has  to  a 
large  extent  been  indirect,  and  yet  powerful  in  its 
effectiveness,  and  thus  the  Order  today,  at  home  and 
abroad,  stands  for  world  influence,  and  although  its 
members  are  limited,  yet  by  that  very  limitation  it 
is  representative,  powerful  and  influential,  and  is 
recognized  in  every  city  and  hamlet  of  this  country, 
as  well  as  in  Europe,  as  being  an  organization  that 
strives  to  bring  men  into  closer  communion,  to  edu 
cate  the  outside  world  to  a  better  realization  of  what 
the  Jew  is  and  has  accomplished.  The  Order  has 
never  been  narrow  in  its  scope  or  restrictive  in  its 
work,  but  cheerfully  co-operated  and  co-ordinated 
itself  with  other  potentialities,  to  the  end  of  being 
helpful  in  the  largest  sense  for  the  largest  number. 
During  the  administration  of  Julius  Bien,  who 
was  for  thirty-three  years  president  and  intellectual 
leader,  as  well  as  that  of  Benjamin  F.  Peixotto  and 
Leo  N.  Levi,  great  progress  was  made,  and  the  Order 
stood  for  all  that  was  ideal  and  altruistic,  and  this 
lofty  conception  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  Order 
has  been  faithfully  and  loyally  maintained  by  the 
present  administration  under  the  able  leadership  of 
Adolf  Kraus.  It  was  Brother  Bien  who  started  the 
lodges  in  Europe,  and  it  was  Brother  Levi  whose 
Kishineff  petition  gave  hope  and  cheer  to  our  strug 
gling  co-religionists  in  Bussia  and  Boumania.  The 
Order  does  not  stand  still,  as  so  many  of  its  critics 
have  asserted;  on  the  contrary,  it  has  pushed  for- 


364  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ward  and  grasped  the  evolution  of  time  and  princi 
ples,  and  is  as  its  founders  intended  it  to  be,  a  body 
of  representative  Jews  who  have  brought  together 
their  brethren,  from  all  shades  of  religious  concep 
tion,  into  a  grand  unifying  body  of  citizenship,  and 
in  fact,  the  Order  is  today  also,  as  it  has  been  in  the 
past,  the  great  ally  of  the  Congregation.  It  has 
waged  no  war  against  the  Orthodox  or  in  behalf  of 
the  Reform.  It  has  stood  manfully  for  the  princi 
ples  which  underlie  Judaism  in  the  concrete  and 
progress  in  general;  and  many  a  lodge  room  in  the 
smaller  communities  in  the  country  became  the 
rallying  point  for  religious  devotion  and  took  the 
place  of  the  absent  synagogue,  thus  preserving  the 
Jew,  and  this  alliance  between  the  Congregation  and 
the  Order  is  the  true  conception  of  the  unity  that  is 
helpful  without  being  bigoted  or  sectarian. 

The  founders  and  many  of  their  descendants  have 
gone  to  their  eternal  rest,  and  the  Order  today  is 
practically  in  the  hands  of  a  new  generation,  and  it 
is  most  gratifying  to  know  that  the  idealistic  spirit  of 
the  past  has  not  been  abandoned,  but  accentuated 
and  made  still  more  glorious. 

Seventy  years  have  gone  into  history  since  the 
foundation  stone  was  laid  upon  which  this  Temple 
of  Humanity  was  erected.  Let  us  hope  and  trust 
that  when  the  first  centennial  of  its  existence  shall 
have  come,  that  it  will  be  found,  as  it  is  today,  a 
brotherhood  cemented  for  the  good  of  mankind,  an 
international  organization  whose  interchange  is 
peace  to  all  men,  and  a  helpmeet  for  the  securing  of 
all  those  high  ideals  for  which  the  Republic  was 
founded,  and  to  the  securing  of  which  every  drop  of 
our  blood  must  pulsate." 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  365 

At  the  conclusion,  President  Taft  arose  and  said: 
"All  of  us  are  to  be  congratulated  for  having  had  the 
privilege  of  listening  to  Mr.  Wolf's  address." 

IMMIGRATION  MATTERS. 

Much  correspondence  was  had  with  Charles  Nagel, 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  on  immigration 
and  questions  affecting  the  Administration.  Some 
of  these  letters  appear  throughout  this  sketch  apper 
taining  as  they  do  to  the  specific  subjects  which  I 
have  related.  Others  are  here  given  for  the  first 
time,  as  they  form  important  links  in  the  history  of 
President  Taft's  Administration. 

On  the  question  of  the  "White  Slave  Traffic"  and 
certain  charges  which  had  been  brought  against  dif 
ferent  individuals,  I  addressed  Secretary  Nagel  to 
the  following  effect: 

November  17,  1909. 
Hon.  Chas.  Nagel,  Secretary,  Department  of  Com- 

merce  and  Labor,  Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: — An  American  magazine 
has  published  an  article  on  the  "White  Slave  Traffic," 
in  which  certain  charges  are  made  against  people 
whose  official  representative  I  am  in  this  city.  I  un 
derstand  also  that  President  Taft  ordered  the  De 
partment  to  permit  the  writer  of  said  magazine  to 
go  over  the  reports  made  by  agents  of  your  Depart 
ment  on  this  traffic.  Therefore,  representing  the 
Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations  and  the 
Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  I  am  most  anxious  to  be  per 
mitted  to  have  the  same  privilege  of  looking  over 
the  reports  in  your  Department,  to  the  end  of  aiding 
the  Government  and  the  states,  if  necessary,  in  every 
way  possible,  to  stamp  out  this  traffic,  and  bring 
condign  punishment  to  the  offenders.  It  is  no  idle 
curiosity  on  my  part  that  prompts  the  request,  but 


366  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

solely  in  the  interest,  not  only  of  our  people,  but  of 
the  country  at  large. 

In  answer  to  a  letter  of  mine,  written  to  Hon.  Bern- 
hard  Bettmann,  President  of  the  Board  of  Governors 
of  the  Hebrew  Union  College  at  Cincinnati,  he  writes 
as  follows: 

"Your  letter  in  the  matter  of  the  'White  Slave 
Traffic'  has  been  received,  and  has  had  my  calm  and 
yet  most  earnest  consideration.  You  call  for  my 
opinion  on  this  subject.  There  is  neither  wisdom 
nor  good  policy  in  trying  to  minimize  the  responsi 
bility  of  Jews  in  the  matter  of  denials  or  attempts 
to  weaken  the  testimony  against  them.  I  would 
rather  admit  that  some  so-called  men  and  women, 
unworthy  of  the  name  of  Jews,  and  violating  every 
principle  of  Judaism,  Orthodox  or  Reform,  are 
guilty,  and  urge  that  the  heaviest  punishment  that 
can  possibly  be  inflicted,  be  meted  to  them,  regard 
less  of  whom  it  may  fall  upon,  and  that  every  step 
be  taken  to  blot  out  as  soon  as  possible  this  blot 
upon  not  Judaism  alone,  but  humanity  at  large." 

So  you  see,  my  dear  Mr.  Secretary,  that  this  is  how 
we  feel  and  therefore  I  hope  you  will  give  the  order 
in  writing  for  me  to  look  at  the  reports,  to  the  end 
of  taking  effective  steps  in  the  directions  indicated. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 
SIMON  WOLF, 

To  which  letter  the  following  is  a  reply: 

H on.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  C. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: — In  conformity  with  the  re 
quest  contained  in  your  letter  of  the  17th,  I  take 
pleasure  in  stating  that  an  arrangement  has  been 
made  with  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigra 
tion  whereby  you  will  be  permitted  to  look  over  the 
papers  on  file  in  the  Department,  relating  to  the  re 
cent  investigation  of  the  "White  Slave  Traffic,"  for 
the  objects  and  purposes  set  forth  in  your  above- 
acknowledged  communication. 

Very  truly  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL, 

Secretary. 


WILLIAM    HOWARD  TAFT  367 

The  German  Alliance  of  the  United  States  having 
made  criticisms  of  some  of  the  rulings  of  Secretary 
Nagel,  and  certain  of  his  subordinates,  on  immigra 
tion  matters,  Mr.  Nagel  wrote  me  the  following  let 
ter,  after  we  had  previously  discussed  the  subject: 

October  18,  1911. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

While  I  have  informally  told  you  how  much  I  ap 
preciate  the  action  which  you  took  in  the  matter  of 
the  German-American  Alliance  proceedings,  I  feel 
that  I  shall  not  be  satisfied  without  expressing  my 
appreciation,  however  briefly,  in  the  form  of  a  letter. 
I  know  of  no  one  who  has  less  ground  for  complaint 
than  I  have,  because  the  consideration  which  has 
generally  been  shown  me  has  been  beyond  all  ex 
pectation.  But  one  observation  has  impressed  me 
more  and  more  and  perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  to 
refer  to  it  because  it  is  common  to  all  public  life. 
An  official  today  is  expected  not  only  to  perform  his 
sworn  duty,  but  he  is  expected  also  to  personally 
defend  himself  and  his  subordinates  against  any  at 
tack  that  anyone  may  see  fit  to  make,  however 
groundless.  There  is  a  wonderful  lack  of  comrade 
ship  in  that  respect.  If  in  any  other  phase  of  life 
men  were  subjected  to  similar  treatment  others 
would  rush  to  their  support.  Perhaps  no  better 
proof  of  the  general  lack  of  confidence  which  pre 
vails  today  can  be  furnished  than  this  illustration. 
While  I  know,  therefore,  that  the  personal  phase  is 
the  least  important,  I  can  not  deny  myself  the  satis 
faction  of  saying  to  you  how  deeply  I  have  appre 
ciated  your  personal  interest,  not  at  my  suggestion, 
but  of  your  own  accord. 

Of  course  the  public  phase  is  infinitely  more  im 
portant,  because  you  know  that  anything  that  goes 
to  destroy  public  confidence  must  inevitably  prove 


368  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

injurious  to  the  service.  I  think  that  the  men  who 
have  lent  themselves  to  the  circulation  of  irrespon 
sible  and  false  charges  have  not  only  done  them 
selves  a  great  injustice,  but  so  far  as  the  public  is 
concerned  their  conduct  is  not  far  short  from  a 
crime. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL. 

To  which  I  sent  the  following  acknowledgment: 

October  19,  1911. 
Hon.  Charles  Nagel,  Secretary, 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  valued  letter  of  yesterday 
and  have  given  the  same  careful  perusal.  As  far 
as  I  am  concerned,  there  is  no  reason  in  the  world 
why  you  should  explain  any  action  taken  by  you, 
for  in  my  experience  with  you  during  your  incum 
bency  as  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  I  have 
found  you  invariably  just,  humane  and  thoroughly 
human.  I  do  not  believe  that  in  a  single  instance 
have  you  failed  to  do  your  duty  fearlessly  and  intel 
ligently,  and  I  know  that  in  many  instances  you  have 
crossed  the  borderline  of  discretion  when  suffering 
was  to  be  relieved  and  hardships  and  separations 
prevented.  Indeed  in  my  whole  experience  of  fifty 
years  with  government  officials  in  the  City  of  Wash 
ington,  I  have  never  found  anyone  to  surpass  you  in 
that  courteous  and  equitable  treatment  for  which  a 
public  servant  should  ever  stand.  Therefore,  con 
sidering  all  this,  I  feel  as  you  do,  aggrieved  that  any 
one  should  He  so  forgetful  of  his  duty  as  an  Ameri 
can  as  to  arraign  a  Government  official  unjustly  or 
for  partisan  or  personal  spite.  This  estimate  I  com 
municated  in  person  to  the  President  of  the  National 
German  Alliance,  and  also  by  letter,  knowing  by 
absolute  knowledge  that  the  charges  made  against 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  369 

Mr.  Williams  are  utterly  unfounded,  uncalled  for 
and  unjust. 

These  critics  surely  do  not  realize  what  the  law 
imposes  on  you  and  that  your  heart  has  been  wrung 
time  and  again  in  not  being  able  to  help  when  the 
law  was  imperative,  and  in  spite  of  this  law  you  have 
on  several  occasions  gone  beyond  it  to  prevent 
deportation.  It  is  indeed  strange  that  after  a  man 
like  you  should  have  given  so  much  personal  atten 
tion,  and  your  Assistant  Secretary,  Mr.  Cable,  no 
less,  to  be  subjected  to  harsh  criticism  when  praise 
should  be  bestowed.  I  do  not  suppose  that  there  is 
anyone  in  the  United  States  who  has  better  or  more 
intimate  knowledge  of  immigration  affairs  than  my 
self,  and  I  am  indeed  time  and  again  surprised  at 
the  patience  and  good  will  displayed  by  all  of  the 
officials  of  your  Department,  in  trying  to  do  that 
which  is  just  and  proper.  I  feel  confident  that  when 
the  whole  subject  is  calmly  and  intelligently  re 
viewed  by  those  who  are  competent  to  judge  and 
who  are  authorized  to  give  an  opinion,  that  this  esti 
mate  that  I  have  outlined  will  be  fully  established. 

Do  not  for  a  moment  permit  small  men  and 
equally  small  newspapers  to  run  away  with  your 
judgment,  and  with  your  natural  disposition  to  do 
what  is  just  and  right.  Time  makes  all  things  even, 
and  the  sober  sense  of  the  American  people  can 
always  be  depended  on.  You  can  be  assured  that  I 
am  at  all  times  ready  to  serve  you  personally  and 
officially,  to  the  end  that  merit  and  fairness  shall  be 
recognized. 

Sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

On  the  occasion  of  my  seventy-fifth  anniversary,  I 
received  the  following  letter  from  Secretary  Nagel: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  October  28,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Today,  I  wish  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  large 
procession  that  will  figuratively  speaking,  present  it- 


370  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

self  at  your  home  to  congratulate  you  and  yours. 
Properly  speaking,  the  good  wishes  should  embrace 
a  very  much  larger  circle,  regardless  of  race  or  color, 
who  as  I  can  testify,  are  under  profound  obligation 
to,  you  for  your  untiring,  ever  tolerant  and  wise 
efforts  in  their  behalf. 

Have  your  mind's  eye  place  me  somewhere  in  the 
procession — well  towards  the  close,  because  I  am  a 
late  arrival  in  the  company  of  your  friends,  although 
I  have  known  of  you  since  my  early  manhood. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL. 
Simon  Wolf,  Esq., 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  October  29,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

Yes,  there  was  a  procession  of  men  and  women, 
presents  of  every  sort,  flowers  in  profusion,  letters 
and  telegrams  by  the  hundred,  but  I  am  happy  to 
say  that  your  thoughtful  and  appreciative  letter, 
leavened  the  whole  mass,  and  like  "Abou  Ben 
Adhem,"  outshone  all  the  rest. 

It  is  so  refreshing  to  receive  in  the  winter  of  life, 
such  wonderful  words  of  good  will,  and  more  than 
compensates  for  all  the  work,  trials  and  criticisms  of 
the  past.  You  can  not  form  an  idea  how  much  hap 
piness  you  have  given  me,  not  only  as  an  official,  but 
as  a  man — the  one  is  so  blended  in  the  other,  that  I 
wish  everyone  was  so  gifted  and  as  human  as  you 
are.  Let  me  indulge  in  the  hope  that  our  future 
relations  in  both  directions  will  be  without  a  break, 
and  although  you  come  late  as  to  time,  you  will 
always  be  enshrined  in  my  heart  of  hearts. 

Sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 
Hon.  Charles  Nagel, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

The  following  letters  are  self-explanatory: 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  371 

Washington,  D.  C.,  July  15,  1912. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  can  not  see  you  prior 
to  my  departure  for  New  Hampshire,  for  which  place 
I  leave  at  three  o'clock  today  and  where  I  expect  to 
be  for  six  weeks  unless  I  am  recalled.  I  am  happy 
to  say  that  my  granddaughter  is  feeling  better. 

If  you  will  pardon  me,  I  suggest  that  you  write  out 
a  decision  in  the  imbecile  case,  and  if  you  do  not 
give  it  out  yourself,  send  it  to  me  and  I  will  see  to  it, 
but  under  all  the  circumstances,  I  would  like  to  have 
a  copy  for  my  files.  The  garbled  statement  in  the 
press  the  other  day  has  already  done  harm,  and  may 
do  still  greater  harm  unless  corrected,  which  no  one 
will  understand  better  than  yourself. 

I  was  at  the  White  House  today,  but  the  President 
had  cancelled  all  engagements.  Hilles  was  absent, 
too;  but  I  saw  Secretary  Forster,  and  gave  him  some 
important  suggestions  in  connection  with  the  cam 
paign. 

I  hope  you  have  a  pleasant  summer,  and  will  be 
glad  to  hear  from  you  when  you  have  time.  And  if 
you  wish  to  consult  me  about  anything,  I  am  at  your 
disposal. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 
Hon.  Charles  Nagel, 

Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 

Washington,  July  29,  1912. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  deferred  answering  your  kind  letter  of  the 
15th  instant  in  the  hope  that  I  might  comply  with 
the  suggestion  which  you  make.  But  while  I  have 
lived  with  books  and  ancient  documents  bearing 
upon  the  question,  I  have  not  found  time  to  formu 
late  my  conclusion.  In  the  meantime,  I  appreciate 
the  difficulty  as  much  as  any  one,  and  only  feel  clear 


372  THE   PRESIDENTS   I    HAVE   KNOWN 

that  but  for  the  embarrassment  of  one  or  two  deci 
sions  I  should  have  no  difficulty  whatever  about  a 
proper  reading  of  the  statute.  In  this  I  am  con 
firmed  by  informal  discussions  with  others  in  whose 
judgment  I  have  confidence. 

Of  course  I  am  still  further  embarrassed  by  a 
number  of  protests,  all  of  which  disclose  more  ani 
mus  upon  the  general  question  of  immigration  than 
intelligence  on  the  question  of  law. 

Trusting  that  your  vacation  is  benefiting  you,  I  am, 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
Fabyan,  N.  H. 

Having  written  to  the  President,  through  Mr.  Fors- 
ter,  his  secretary,  regarding  certain  attacks  which 
had  been  made  on  Secretary  Nagel,  and  his  admin 
istration  of  the  immigration  laws,  the  President 
wrote  to  me  to  the  following  effect: 

The  White  House, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  July  30,  1912. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  yours  of  July  27th  to  Mr.  Forster.  You 
need  not  worry  about  attacks  on  Nagel.  They  don't 
worry  me,  and  they  don't  mean  anything. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 
P.  S. — It  is  only  a  piece  of  much  muckraking. 

Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
Fabyan,  N.  H. 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 

Washington,  August  3,  1912. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  your  confidential  letter,  and  have  nothing 
confidential  to  communicate,  because  I  know  noth 
ing  about  the  matter  of  which  you  speak.  I  do  not 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  373 

mean  to  say  that  I  am  indifferent  to  such  newspaper 
notices,  but  neither  do  I  permit  them  to  disturb  me 
in  the  pursuit  of  my  work.  I  know  nothing,  although 
I  have  been  somewhat  surprised  that  this  news 
paper  appears  never  to  lose  an  opportunity  to  get 
in  a  dig,  and  could  not  even  refrain  from  criticising 
me  for  letting  in  the  child  of  a  naturalized  citizen, 
basing  its  decision  on  a  misstatement  of  the  present 
statute. 

With  best  wishes. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 
Fabyan,  N.  H. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  September  16,  1912. 
Hon.  Charles  Nagel, 

Marion,  Mass. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

On  my  return  home  I  learn  that  you  will  not  be 
back  to  Washington  for  a  week  or  two.  Hence  I 
take  the  liberty  of  writing  to  you  that  I  have  been 
informed  that  the  State  Department  has  come  to 
some  conclusion  in  regard  to  a  new  Russian  treaty, 
and  that  the  same  had  been  discussed  at  the  Cabinet 
meeting,  and  that  one  of  the  results  will  be  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  mixed  commission  to  take  up  the 
passport  question.  If  this  information  is  correct,  I 
would  like  you  to  bring  the  matter  to  the  attention 
of  the  President,  that  it  seems  to  me  it  would  be  but 
logical  and  right  that  an  American  citizen  of  Jewish 
faith  should  be  a  member  of  that  Commission.  As 
the  passport  question  concerns  the  citizens  of  Jewish 
faith  more  than  any  other  class,  I  have  no  doubt  that 
more  than  one  of  my  faith  will  be  appointed. 

I  hope  you  are  enjoying  your  outing.  I  feel  very 
well  indeed,  but  miss  you  very  much. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 


374  .  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 

Washington,  January  18,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  understood  you  to  say  this  morning  over  the  tele 
phone  that  Senator  Lodge  had  written  to  Mr.  Mar 
shall  that  the  provision  for  counsel  before  the  Boards 
of  Inquiry  had  been  omitted  because  I  opposed  it. 
I  know  nothing  about  that.  It  is  my  understanding 
that  the  provision  would  never  have  been  permitted 
to  stand,  no  matter  what  my  attitude  might  have 
been. 

The  truth  is  that  after  the  measures  had  been  sent 
to  conference  this  Department  received  its  first  re 
quest  for  the  expression  of  an  opinion.  The  time 
was  limited,  and  on  the  31st  of  December,  I  sent  a 
communication  of  some  nineteen  pages  in  which  we 
endeavored  to  cover  the  ground.  Most  of  it  was 
based  upon  preparation  which  the  Bureau  had  made 
at  an  earlier  date  in  the  expectation  that  its  repre 
sentatives  would  be  called  before  the  Committees. 
I  should  be  glad  at  any  time  to  give  you  a  full  copy 
of  my  letter.  The  portion  which  refers  to  the  par 
ticular  subject  now  under  discussion  is  as  follows: 

"While  perhaps  there  is  no  insuperable  objection 
to  allowing  counsel  before  boards  of  special  inquiry, 
the  fact  that  this  outright  change  in  the  procedure 
will  seriously  impede  the  determination  of  cases  con 
sidered  before  the  board  should  not  be  overlooked. 
The  passage  of  the  provision  will  necessitate  a  great 
increase  in  the  number  of  boards,  and,  in  order  to 
prevent  impositions  upon  the  Government,  the  em 
ployment  of  solicitors  or  attorneys  to  oppose  and 
hold  in  check  counsel  retained  by  aliens.  The  pres 
ent  practice  of  not  allowing  counsel  has  been  ap 
proved  by  the  courts,  which  have  apprehended  that 
Congress  intended  that  the  examination  should  be  a 
summary  and  informal  procedure." 

I  did  not  regard  this  matter  as  of  particular  impor 
tance  at  the  time,  because  I  had  no  suspicion  that 
such  a  provision  could  be  retained  in  this  bill.  But 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  375 

apart  from  that,  in  my  judgment,  the  objections 
stated  to  this  provision  are  good.  If  counsel  for 
aliens  are  to  be  admitted  the  Government  must  have 
counsel.  If  a  trial  is  to  be  had,  witnesses  should  be 
subpoenaed.  To  all  intents  and  purposes  this  would 
constitute  a  court,  and  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  any 
and  all  proceedings  would  not  be  subject  to  review 
by  higher  courts.  Furthermore,  I  am  persuaded  that 
as  a  rule  the  class  of  lawyers  who  would  engage  in 
this  business  would  not  tend  to  increase  the  chance 
for  fair  dealing  and  protection  of  the  alien. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL, 

Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Secretary. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 

Washington,  January  22,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  find  that  there  is  further  disposition  to  make  this 
Department  responsible  for  features  of  the  new  im 
migration  act  which  have  proved  unpopular.  Per 
haps  it  is  just  as  well  not  to  comment  on  this  branch. 
This  Department  was  not  consulted  while  the  bill 
was  really  under  consideration  and  when  we  should 
have  been  consulted  if  there  had  been  any  disposi 
tion  to  really  take  our  advice.  When  our  comments 
were  invited  our  time  for  consideration  was  limited, 
and  I  was  compelled  to  avail  myself  of  the  informa 
tion  which  the  Bureau  had  gathered  at  an  earlier 
period.  Furthermore,  it  is  my  own  impression  that 
in  writing  a  report  of  this  kind  it  is  not  merely  to 
reflect  the  Secretary's  views,  but  should  as  far  as 
possible  present  the  views  of  the  Bureau  which  is 
charged  with  the  work. 

With  particular  reference  to  the  certificate  provi 
sion  the  fact  is  that  this  suggestion  comes  from  the 
State  Department  which  has  for  years  been  engaged 
in  correspondence  with  foreign  countries  upon  that 
subject.  The  information  from  the  State  Depart- 


376  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

merit  was  that  Italy  alone  issues  these  certificates, 
and  that  Russia  and  Great  Britain  had  refused  to 
issue  certificates  of  any  character,  so  that  Russia  was 
not  considered  in  connection  with  the  question.  I 
am  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  the  provision  in  the 
new  law  is  too  drastic.  I  can  well  see  how  such  a 
provision  may  enable  foreign  countries  to  embarrass 
immigrants  who  seek  to  come  for  the  very  reasons 
which  induce  us  to  extend  protection.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  do  believe  that  certificates  properly  issued 
would  be  of  great  value.  Experience  shows  that 
physical  conditions  may  be  examined  with  some 
hope  of  reaching  a  correct  opinion,  but  points  of 
character  are  difficult  to  detect,  and  a  fair  and  in 
telligent  understanding  with  foreign  countries  on 
that  subject  would  prove  of  great  value  and  would 
result  in  great  protection  to  our  country  against 
really  undesirable  immigration. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL, 

Secretary. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Washington,  January  29,  1913. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  just  read  your  letter  before  leaving  for  New 
Haven  where  I  am  going  at  the  President's  sugges 
tion  to  endeavor  to  make  a  speech.  I  can  not  say 
more  than  this:  I  wonder  what  my  successor  will 
do  with  my  correspondence.  I  regard  it  as  a  first- 
class  opportunity  for  unfavorable  limelight. 

I  had  feared  that  my  name  might  be  so  coupled 
with  the  character  certificate  provision  in  the  law 
that  I  had  forfeited  the  esteem  of  many  of  your 
friends.  However,  I  feel  perfectly  clear  with  my 
self,  although  it  would  be  impossible  to  give  the  full 
explanation.  The  recommendation  was  made  for 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  377 

the  Bureau  and  in  the  language  adopted  by  it.  In 
other  words,  it  appears  in  an  absolute  form  which, 
upon  reflection,  I  should  not  have  endorsed,  and 
against  which  I  should  have  protested  if  the  Com 
mittee  had  given  me  a  personal  hearing.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  do  not  share  the  fear  about  such  a  pro 
vision  properly  guarded.  With  the  necessary  dis 
cretion  lodged  here  the  certificate  might  be  of  con 
siderable  advantage.  True,  they  would  have  to  be 
disregarded  where  countries  abuse  their  power,  but 
they  might  be  respected  where  they  are  issued  in 
good  faith.  And  when  so  respected  they  would  re 
lieve  the  aliens  of  many  embarrassing  questions 
which  of  necessity  now  have  to  be  put  to  them.  I 
can  assure  you  that  when  I  think  of  the  power  of  an 
inspector  and  the  ordeal  to  which  innocent  persons 
must  be  necessarily  put,  I  am  disposed  to  welcome 
any  measure  of  procedure  that  is  calculated  to  re 
lieve  the  service  of  this  necessity. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL. 

Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Feb.  27,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

As  I  am  going  to  New  York  in  the  morning  and 
will  not  return  until  Saturday  evening,  and  knowing 
how  busy  you  will  be  on  Monday,  this  may  be  the 
last  occasion  during  your  administration  that  I  will 
have  to  express  my  great  gratification  for  the  admir 
able  manner  in  which  you  have  at  all  times  con 
ducted  the  official  duties  of  your  Department,  and 
the  personal  good  will  and  friendship  extended  to 
me.  I  shall  look  back  with  the  greatest  pleasure  and 
delight  to  the  last  four  years  which  have  indeed  been 
an  oasis  in  the  desert  of  official  duties. 

May  the  future  bring  you  and  your  dear  ones 
health  and  happiness,  and  be  assured  that  I  am  ever 


378  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ready  to  show  you  how  keenly  I  appreciate  all  that 
you  have  been  and  all  that  you  have  done  to  and 
for  me. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 
Hon.  Charles  Nagel, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

To  which  Mr.  Nagel  replied: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Feb.  28,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  your  esteemed  letter  of  the  27th  instant. 
Your  expression  of  confidence  is  more  than  generous. 
I  hasten  to  add  that  it  is  only  a  confirmation  of  your 
courteous  and  helpful  attitude  throughout  my  term 
of  office.  You  are  interested  in  a  branch  of  my  De 
partment  which  probably  has  given  me  more  con 
stant  concern  than  any  other.  In  part,  no  doubt, 
because  it  necessarily  invited  the  most  unremitting 
public  scrutiny  and  criticism;  but  chiefly  because 
every  decision  was  like  a  human  sentence  for  hope 
or  despair.  In  the  administration  you  and  I  had 
frequently  to  disagree.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
in  some,  perhaps  in  many  instances,  your  judgment 
could  not  approve  my  decisions.  If  all  my  decisions 
were  now  collected  for  my  revision,  I  should  unques 
tionably  make  some  changes.  I  endeavored,  how 
ever,  to  adhere  to  some  general  rule,  always  keeping 
in  mind  the  human  equation.  I  had  to  act  as  a 
judge;  your  part  more  closely  resembled  that  of  the 
advocate.  As  a  defender  of  a  liberal  interpretation 
of  the  law,  you  had  the  easier  task.  But  you  light 
ened  my  task  by  invariably  treating  the  decisions 
when  made,  with  respect,  and  thus  making  it  possi 
ble  to  consider  each  following  case  represented  by 
you  solely  upon  its  merits;  with  entire  freedom  on 
my  part  to  avail  of  the  aid  which  your  large  ac 
quaintance  with  this  branch  of  the  service  could 
always  provide. 


WII.TJAM    HOWARD   TAFT  379 

With  particular  gratitude  shall  I  always  remember 
that  when  a  concerted  attack  was  inaugurated 
against  me,  you  did  not  hesitate  to  defend  me.  I  am 
persuaded  that  hut  for  you  I  would  never  have  ob 
tained  the  hearing  which  finally  turned  the  tide, 
With  keen  appreciation  do  I  recall  that  after  this 
hearing  the  general  attitude  changed;  and  the  citi 
zenship  which  you  especially  represent,  judged  my 
official  conduct  with  patience,  impartiality,  and,  per 
haps,  indulgence. 

With  best  wishes  for  the  happiness  of  your  family, 
and  for  many  years  of  active  service  for  you,  I  am, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  G. 

Everything  possible  was  done  by  all  the  combined 
forces  to  prevent  the  enactment  into  law  of  the  new 
immigration  bill  pending  in  Congress,  notably  on  ac 
count  of  the  literacy  test,  although  there  were  other 
objectionable  features  which  were  not  so  material 
and  so  commanding  in  importance  as  that.  A  hear 
ing  to  those  in  favor  and  in  opposition  to  the  bill  was 
given  by  President  Taft  in  the  East  Room  of  the 
White  House.  A  large  aggregation  was  present,  rep 
resenting  individual  and  associated  thought.  One 
minute  of  time  was  allotted  to  me,  acting  as  Chair 
man  of  the  Board  of  Delegates,  but  in  this  short 
space  of  time  I  said,  "One  of  our  ancient  sages  when 
confronted  by  a  heathen  with  a  knife  in  his  hand, 
who  threatened  to  kill  the  sage  unless  he  could  tell 
him  what  there  was  in  religion  while  he  (the 
heathen)  was  standing  on  one  foot,  gave  as  his  an 
swer,  'Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.' ' 

Notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  put  forth  and  in 
fluences  which  were  brought  to  bear,  in  and  out  of 


380  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Congress,  the  Immigration  Bill,  with  all  its  drastic 
measures,  was  passed  by  a  large  majority. 

The  President,  however,  vetoed  the  bill  on  account 
of  the  literacy  test.  It  was  one  of  his  last  important 
acts.  It  appears  that  the  President  was  greatly  in 
doubt  as  to  the  course  he  should  pursue  in  view  of 
the  action  of  Congress,  but  it  was  fortunate  that  he 
had  at  his  right  hand  Secretary  Nagel,  whose  clear 
insight  was  influential  in  bringing  the  President  to 
his  conclusions.  Immediately  on  learning  of  the 
veto,  I  wrote  to  the  President  in  the  following  terms : 

My  Dear  Mr.  President: 

I  have  not  yet  read  your  reasons  for  vetoing  the 
Immigration  Bill,  but  am  confident  that  they  are 
sound  and  in  every  way  tenable.  I  felt  sure  from 
the  first  that  after  due  and  mature  consideration,  you 
would  act  as  you  have  done.  Permit  me  to  sincerely 
congratulate  you  in  the  interest  of  our  country.  As 
time  goes  on,  your  action  will  be  more  and  more 
approved,  and  you,  yourself,  will  rejoice  that  you 
were  so  far-sighted  as  to  deny  your  signature  to  a 
bill  that  was  contrary  to  all  the  principles  of  our 
Government. 

Ever  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 
February  fourteenth, 
nineteen  hundred  and  thirteen. 

To  Secretary  Nagel,  in  this  same  connection,  I 
wrote : 

My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

At  no  time  since  our  acquaintance  have  I  felt 
prouder  of  your  work  than  I  did  this  morning  when 
I  read  the  reasons  given  by  the  President  for  veto 
ing  the  Immigration  Bill.  It  shows  that  your  clear 
insight  into  this  live  wire  question  has  been  appre- 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  381 

dated  and  made  the  dominant  reason  for  the  veto. 
Only  a  man  like  yourself  who  has  been  intimate  with 
all  the  facts  in  connection  with  immigration,  is  a 
real  judge,  aside  from  your  high  standing  as  an 
American  citizen  and  sincere  patriot.  This  action 
of  the  President  and  yourself  will  go  down  in  Amer 
ican  history  as  a  bright  page,  and  as  the  representa 
tive  of  various  Jewish  organizations,  resident  in 
Washington,  and  individually  as  your  friend,  I  ten 
der  you  hearty  and  sincere  congratulations,  and  trust 
that  the  future  will  bring  you  that  reward  which  you 
so  eminently  deserve. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 
Hon.  Charles  Nagel, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Feb.  15,  1913. 

To  which  Mr.  Nagel  answered: 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 

Washington,  February  17,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Knowing  how  deeply  you  are  interested  in  the  im 
migration  bill,  I  was  not  surprised  to  find  your  very 
warm  letter  of  the  15th  instant.  You  are  so  fully 
advised  of  my  position  and  the  considerations  which 
decided  me  and  gave  me  concern,  that  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  add  another  word  at  this  time.  The 
more  I  have  reflected  upon  this  question  the  more 
clear  am  I  about  the  correctness  of  my  position.  The 
fact  is  that  my  observation,  gathered  from  innumer 
able  cases  involving  every  possible  nationality,  has 
by  degrees  forced  this  conclusion  upon  me. 

I  do  not  dispute  the  value  of  the  opportunities 
which  the  Immigration  Commission  has  had,  but  on 
the  other  hand  I  am  prepared  to  assert  that  my  ex 
amination  has  at  least  the  advantage  of  being  made 
at  first  hand  and  not  by  proxy.  What  the  ultimate 
result  will  be,  of  course,  I  cannot  guess,  and  in  fact 


382  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

about  that  I  am  not  much  concerned.  The  impor 
tant  thing  was  to  have  the  executive  branch  of  the 
government  right.  If  the  bill  is  now  passed  it  will, 
in  my  opinion,  demonstrate  in  a  very  brief  space  the 
correctness  of  our  position.  The  particular  clause 
was  important  because  it  represents  a  principle,  and 
it  had  to  be  given  importance,  although  in  the  form 
in  which  it  appears  it  has  practically  the  life  com 
promised  out  of  it. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  NAGEL. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Investigations  into  the  subject  of  Jewish  illiteracy 
abroad  showed  conclusively  that  the  Government 
immigration  records  were  correct  in  indicating  that 
approximately  twenty-six  per  cent  of  Jewish  immi 
grants  would  be  excluded  by  the  reading  test  of  the 
Dillingham-Burnett  Bill.  It  was  largely  due  to  my 
efforts  that  the  Conference  Report  on  the  Immigra 
tion  Bill  was  recommitted  by  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress,  with  instructions  to  strike  out  the  objection 
able  "certificate  of  character"  provision  for  immi 
grants,  which  would  have  barred  out  substantially 
all  religious  and  political  refugees,  whom  their  home 
countries  wanted  to  persecute  by  arbitrarily  denying 
such  certificates  to  them.  It  was  by  a  vote  lacking 
but  a  few  of  the  legal  two-thirds  majority  that  the 
bill  was  finally  defeated. 

THE  BLOOM  INCIDENT. 

During  the  early  part  of  May,  1911,  I  received  a 
call  from  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Bloom,  wife  of  Joseph  A. 
Bloom,  who  was  a  tailor  at  Ft.  Myer,  near  Washing 
ton.  The  purpose  of  Mrs.  Bloom's  visit  is  shown  by 


WILLIAM    HOWARD  TAFT  383 

the  letter  which  I  addressed  to  the  President,  which 
embodied  Mrs.  Bloom's  letter  to  me,  setting  forth  all 
of  the  facts  in  the  matter.  This  letter,  together  with 
the  entire  correspondence  in  the  Bloom  affair,  are 
given  here  in  full  and  explain  quite  clearly  this  most 
interesting  case : 

Washington,  D.  G.,  May  3,  1911. 
To  the  President: 

I  am  well  aware  that  you  are  a  very  busy  man, 
and  that  as  a  patriotic  citizen  and  a  loyal  friend  I 
ought  not  in  any  way  annoy  or  worry  you.  But  cir 
cumstances  over  which  I  have  no  control  compel  me 
to  bring  to  your  especial  notice  a  matter  that  involves 
the  fundamental  principles  of  our  institutions  and 
the  integrity  of  our  Government. 

Some  years  ago  Chaplain  Pierce,  then  post  chap 
lain  at  Fort  Myer,  asked  me  to  indorse  the  applica 
tion  for  appointment  to  West  Point  of  a  young  man 
by  the  name  of  Frank  Bloom.  President  Roosevelt, 
unfortunately,  could  not  grant  his  request,  but  told 
him  to  enlist  and  like  a  true  American  fight  his  way 
up  for  promotion  from  the  ranks.  The  young  man 
took  the  advice  and  entered  the  army,  has  an  excel 
lent  record  and  recently  was  examined  for  promo 
tion.  On  the  papers  the  officer  commanding  Fort 
Myer,  Col.  Gerrard,  made  the  following  endorse 
ment: 

"The  applicant  is  a  son  of  Mr.  Joseph  A.  Bloom,  of 
Jewish  persuasion,  who  is  now  and  has  been  for  a 
number  of  years  a  tailor  at  this  post.  His  associates, 
as  far  as  I  know,  and  those  of  his  family,  have  been 
with  enlisted  men  and  their  families,  and  have  been 
respectable.  The  young  man  is  undoubtedly  honest 
and  upright,  ambitious  and  probably  deserving,  but 
for  the  reasons  stated  I  would  not  desire  him  in  my 
command  as  an  officer  and  social  and  personal  asso 
ciate.  The  presence  of  the  applicant's  family  at  a 
military  post  would  be  subversive  of  discipline,  and 


384  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

their  probable  treatment  a  source  of  mortification  to 
them  and  frequent  cause  of  trouble  to  commanding 
officers.  From  an  experience  of  many  years  I  have 
found,  except  in  few  cases,  few  communities  where 
Jews  are  received  as  desirable  associates,"  which 
explains  itself. 

The  indorsement  was  brought  to  me  by  the  mother 
of  the  young  soldier,  who  is  now  doing  his  duty  on 
the  Mexican  frontier.  He  is  a  private  in  Battery  F 
of  the  3d  Field  Artillery. 

Since  Mrs.  Bloom  has  called  to  see  me,  asking  my 
good  offices,  I  have  received  the  following  letter 
from  her: 

"I  called  on  you  the  other  day  (Wednesday)  in 
regard  to  an  injustice  to  my  son,  Private  Frank 
Bloom,  a  citizen  of  American  birth,  who  is  a  member 
of  Battery  F,  3d  Field  Artillery. 

"I  have  acquainted  you  with  the  facts — the  fact  of 
a  recommendation  being  given  by  an  officer,  in  which 
it  seems  that  the  only  objection  which  that  officer 
holds  against  my  son  being  an  officer  is  that  he  is  of 
Jewish  parentage,  and  for  that  reason  objectionable 
as  a  fellow  officer  and  associate. 

"In  our  conversation  I  told  you  the  injustice  con 
nected  with  the  case;  the  great  wrong  being  done  to 
the  Jews,  their  being  shunned,  as  it  were,  by  their 
fellow  human  beings.  But  I  did  not  tell  you  my  end 
and  aim  in  coming  to  you. 

"I  spent  good,  hard  money  to  give  my  boy  an  edu 
cation,  to  prepare  him  to  make  his  mark  in  the 
world.  We,  his  parents,  consented,  advocated  and 
endorsed  his  entering  the  army;  we  wanted  him  to 
serve  his  country  in  the  capacity  of  an  officer. 

"My  object  is  not  one  of  revenge,  not  one  of  spite, 
to  punish  a  man  who  is  guilty  of  a  gross  wrong  done 
to  his  fellow  human  beings,  the  Jews.  No,  I  want  to 
see  that  my  son  is  dealt  with  fairly,  to  be  given  a 
chance  to  make  his  mark  as  others  of  his  race  have 
made  before  him. 

"I  had  hoped  that  my  son  would  be  a  support  to 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  385 

me  as  he  was  before  he  entered  the  army,  and  it  is  to 
him  that  I  look  for  comfort  and  happiness  in  my 
old  days. 

"To  be  brief,  I  will  hastily  go  over  my  wishes.  The 
final  examination  comes  off  September  1.  We,  his 
parents,  are  positive  that  this  indorsement  was  the 
only  thing  that  prevented  my  son  being  eligible  to 
take  the  final  examination.  We  would  like  to  have 
him  get  permission  to  take  the  final  examination, 
which  he  surely  deserves,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
time  for  preparation  is  being  shortened  day  by  day. 
He  should  be  allowed  to  live,  not  to  be  down-trodden 
for  the  simple  fact  that  he  is  a  Jew. 

"If  it  can  not  be  that  he  may  get  his  final  exami 
nation  in  September,  then  it  is  my  request  that  he  be 
honorably  discharged  from  the  army  by  favor,  so 
that  he  may  pursue  another  course,  so  as  to  prepare 
himself  for  his  life's  work.  Either  he  shall  be 
allowed  to  take  the  final  examination  this  Septem 
ber,  or  that  he  be  discharged. 

"I  hope,  honorable  sir,  that  you  will  understand 
my  views  entirely,  so  that  you  can  act  accordingly 
in  so  serious  a  case. 

"Any  action  that  you  may  take  in  this  matter 
would  not  only  be  of  great  service  and  of  great  favor 
to  me,  but  it  would  be  of  service  in  stopping  antag 
onistic  action  toward  our  race. 

"Assuring  you  of  my  heartfelt  appreciation  and 
thanks  for  your  noble  interest  in  our  trouble,  and 
trusting  that  we  will  obtain  our  aims,  I  beg  to  re 
main,  yours  very  respectfully. 

"(Signed)     ELIZABETH  BLOOM." 

which  also  explains  itself. 

It  would  certainly  show  gross  ignorance  on  my 
part  were  I  for  a  moment  to  suppose  that  you  would 
stand  for  any  such  indorsement  or  the  consequences 
of  such  indorsement,  for  it  goes  without  saying  that 
the  result  of  this  un-American  act  on  the  part  of 
Col.  Gerrard  has  proven  disastrous  to  the  aspirations 


386  THE   PRESIDENTS   I    HAVE    KNOWN 

of  the  young  American  soldier  and  is  violative  of 
every  principle  of  our  American  institutions.  What 
this  person  who  wears  the  uniform  of  his  country 
thinks  as  an  individual  of  his  fellow-citizens  of  Jew 
ish  faith,  or  of  tailors  by  profession,  concerns  no  one 
but  himself,  but  when  in  a  representative  and  official 
character  he  so  far  forgets  every  obligation  to  the 
rest  of  his  fellow-citizens  it  is  high  time  that  he 
should  not  only  be  taught  his  duty,  but  punished 
for  not  knowing  it. 

I  sincerely  invoke  your  co-operation  in  this  direc 
tion,  and  especially  do  I  trust  that  neither  the  father, 
who  is  earning  a  livelihood  at  the  post,  nor  the  son, 
who  is  serving  his  country  efficiently,  will  suffer  in 
consequence  of  bringing  this  matter  to  your  notice. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     SIMON  WOLF, 
Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Delegates 
and    Resident    Representative    of 
the  Independent  Order  B'nai  B'rith. 

White  House,  May  8,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  your  letter,  and  without  comment  I  inclose 
a  copy  of  my  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  I  shall 
advise  you  of  further  steps  in  the  matter. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 
Simon  Wolf,  Esq., 

14th  and  G  Streets, 
Washington. 

White  House,  May  8,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

I  inclose  herewith  a  letter  from  Simon  Wolf,  a 
lawyer,  and  a  very  prominent  and  respected  citizen 
of  Washington.  This  gives  to  the  statement  he 
makes  every  presumption  of  accuracy  and  truth.  It 
is  difficult  for  me  to  read  the  indorsement  of  Col. 
Gerrard,  set  forth  in  this  letter,  with  patience  and 


WILLIAM    HOWARD  TAFT  387 

without  condemnatory  words  that  had  better  not  be 
written.  I  wish  you  would  examine  the  record  and 
verify  the  statements  of  Mr.  Wolf,  and,  if  he  has  not 
been  misinformed — and  his  letter  sets  forth  the  facts 
— direct  that  this  young  man  be  admitted  to  exami 
nation  for  a  lieutenancy  in  the  army. 

The  statements  made  by  Col.  Gerrard  are  not  true 
with  reference  to  the  standing  that  Jews  have  in  this 
country,  and  I  resent,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy,  that  any  officer  of  either  should  per 
mit  himself  in  an  official  document  to  give  evidence 
of  such  unfounded  and  narrow  race  prejudice  as 
that  contained  in  this  indorsement. 

After  you  have  made  an  examination  of  the  record 
please  advise  me  of  your  action. 

Sincerely  yours, 

W.  H.  TAFT. 
Hon.  J.  M.  Dickinson, 
Secretary  of  War, 

Washington,  D.  G. 

SECRETARY  DICKINSON'S  REPORT. 

War  Department,  Washington,  May  9,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President : 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  the  8th  instant,  relative  to  the  prelimi 
nary  examination  for  lieutenancy  of  Private  Frank 
Bloom,  Battery  F,  Field  Artillery,  and  to  certain  re 
marks  of  Col.  Gerrard,  15th  Cavalry,  on  Private 
Bloom's  papers  relative  to  the  latter's  Jewish  parent 
age,  brought  to  your  attention  by  Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 
of  Washington. 

The  indorsement  attributed  to  Col.  Gerrard  is  cor 
rectly  stated,  and  I  entirely  agree  with  you  that  such 
views  are  not  only  absolutely  unfounded,  but  give 
evidence  of  narrow  race  prejudice,  not  to  be  ex 
pected  from  an  officer  of  the  army. 

However,  Private  Bloom's  disqualification  by  the 
War  Department  was  in  no  wise  influenced  by  Col. 
Gerrard's  remarks,  but  resulted  wholly  from  the  fact 


388  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

that  the  soldier  failed  to  secure  the  percentage  re 
quired  under  War  Department  regulations  in  two 
separate  subjects  of  his  written  examination.  His 
general  average  on  the  entire  mental  examination 
was  also  below  requirements. 

But  in  view  of  the  apparent  impression  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Wolf  and  of  the  soldier's  parents  that  Private 
Bloom's  disqualification  was  caused  by  his  com 
manding  officer's  indorsement,  and  in  order  to  show 
that  the  department  has  no  sympathy  whatever  with 
the  views  contained  therein,  I  shall  designate  Private 
Bloom  to  take  the  final  examination  in  September 
next,  and  shall  cause  him  to  be  notified  accordingly. 
Very  respectfully, 

(Signed)     J.  M.  DICKINSON, 

Secretary  of  War. 
To  the  President,  The  White  House. 

PRESIDENT'S  ACTION. 

The  White  House, 

Washington,  May  11,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  inclose  to  you  a  copy  of  a  letter  I  have  just  re 
ceived  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  which  explains 
itself.  I  shall  take  steps  to  see  that  the  examination 
to  which  Private  Bloom  is  subjected  is  one  in  which 
he  will  be  given  a  fair  chance  and  not  be  exposed  to 
any  unjust  prejudice. 

Sincerely  yours, 
(Signed)     WILLIAM  H.  TAFT. 

Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Commercial  National  Bank  Build 
ing,  Washington. 

The  White  House, 

Washington,  May  11,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

I  have  your  letter  of  May  9  in  respect  to  Private 
Bloom.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  you  present  to  Col. 
Gerrard  the  question  whether  he  did  make  such  an 
indorsement,  and  then  have  you  consider  what  steps 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  389 

should  be  taken  to  discipline  an  officer  who  would 
make  such  an  indorsement. 

Sincerely  yours, 

W.  H.  TAFT. 
Hon.  J.  M.  Dickinson,  Secretary  of  War. 

The  result  of  all  this  correspondence  was  that 
young  Bloom,  having  been  ordered  to  take  the  ex 
amination,  passed  splendidly,  and  was  appointed  a 
second  lieutenant  in  the  Army.  His  trials  and  tribu 
lations  for  more  than  a  year  need  not  here  be  re 
counted.  It  was  most  fortunate  that  General  Leon 
ard  Wood,  Chief  of  Staff  of  the  War  Department, 
gave  the  matter  his  personal  attention,  and  made  a 
thorough  investigation  of  all  that  Bloom  was  charged 
with,  which  led  to  Bloom's  complete  exoneration. 
Bloom  for  a  time  was  in  the  Philippines,  where  he 
was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  and  passed  his  ex 
aminations  for  a  captaincy,  which  he  has  since  re 
ceived  and  no  doubt,  with  other  brave  American 
soldiers,  has  been  ordered  to  France.* 

Few  of  my  readers  will  ever  know  or  appreciate 
the  immense  amount  of  work  and  sacrifice  which  I 
had  to  endure  to  prevent,  in  the  first  place,  an  injury 
being  done  to  the  son  of  an  American  citizen,  and 
finally  to  prevent  his  dismissal  owing  to  a  cabal 
which  naturally  had  no  use  for  a  civilian,  and  one 
who  unfortunately,  as  they  regarded  it,  was  a  Jew 
besides.  At  no  time  during  my  acquaintance  with 
President  Taf t  did  he  show  a  finer  sense  of  American 
citizenship  and  patriotism,  and  give  way  to  more, 
indignant  utterances  than  he  did  in  the  Bloom  case. 
It  was  a  splendid  tribute  to  the  proper  conception  of 
official  duty  in  preserving  the  rights  and  privileges 
incident  to  each  and  every  American. 

*Since  printing  the  first  edition,  Captain  Frank  Bloom  has  been 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  Lt.  Colonel. 


390  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

In  answer  to  a  letter  which  I  sent  to  the  President, 
thanking  him  for  what  he  had  done  for  Lieut.  Bloom, 
I  received  the  following: 

Butte,  Montana,  October  19,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

The  President  has  asked  me  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  letter  of  October  13th,  and  to  thank 
you  for  what  you  are  good  enough  to  say  of  his  ac 
tion  in  the  case  of  Frank  Bloom.  The  President  is 
very  glad  to  know  that  the  young  man  has  been  suc 
cessful  in  his  examinations. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  D.  HILLES, 
Secretary  to  the  President. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  G. 

April  4,  1918. 
Hon.  William  Howard  Taft, 

New  Haven,  Conn. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

I  am  sure  it  will  be  very  pleasing  to  you  to  know 
that  our  protege,  Frank  Bloom,  "a  Jew  and  the  son 
of  a  tailor,"  has,  by  virtue  of  merit,  gone  right  along 
on  the  road  to  promotion,  and  is  now  captain,  and 
will  no  doubt  soon  go  to  the  front  in  France.  So 
you  see  Colonel  Gerrard,  aside  from  being  preju 
diced,  was  mistaken.  "A  Jew  and  the  son  of  a 
tailor"  may  have  the  making  of  a  Major  General  of 
the  United  States  Army — who  knows? 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

April  9,  1918. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  your  letter  of  April  4th.  I  am  very  glad  to 
know  that  Frank  Bloom  is  getting  on  so  well,  in  spite 
of  Col.  Gerrard's  "break." 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  C. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT  391 

VARIOUS   INCIDENTS. 

President  Taft  honored  the  Washington  Hebrew 
Congregation  by  addressing  a  large  and  representa 
tive  audience  at  the  Temple  on  Eighth  Street  on  May 
16,  1911,  on  the  occasion  of  advocating  the  erection 
of  a  monument  in  memory  of  the  great  American 
patriot,  Haym  Salomon,  and  in  his  speech  he  re 
ferred  to  the  fact  that  I  had  brought  to  his  attention 
this  great  patriot  and  the  neglect  of  the  Republic  so 
far  in  commemorating  his  services. 

The  following  appeal  in  justice  to  the  memory  of 
Haym  Salomon  will  be  doubly  interesting  from  the 
fact  that  it  met  with  the  approval  of  President  Taft : 

JUSTICE  FOR  A  JEWISH  PATRIOT. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Washington  Post,  Hon.  Simon 
Wolf  makes  the  following  appeal  for  public  recog 
nition  of  a  public  benefactor's  unselfish  deeds : 

I  notice  that  a  movement  has  developed  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia  to  honor  the  memory  of  Robert  Mor 
ris,  the  great  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  at  the  time 
of  the  American  revolution.  Any  one  who  has 
studied  the  history  of  the  United  States  can  not  but 
be  pleased  at  this  recognition,  for  Robert  Morris  was 
not  only  a  great  financier  and  statesman,  but  was  in 
addition  thereto  one  of  the  most  patriotic  of  Ameri 
cans,  to  whom  no  sacrifice  was  too  great,  and  al 
though  at  this  late  day  the  close  friend  of  the  immor 
tal  Washington  is  to  receive,  at  the  hands  of  his 
grateful  countrymen  in  the  city  which  he  glorified, 
perpetuity  by  men  as  of  a  monument,  it  nevertheless 
is  a  sad  commentary  on  the  appreciative  sense  of 
the  nation.  Mediocrity  and  imbecility,  clothed  for 
the  moment  in  the  political  ermine,  disgrace  many 
of  our  public  parks,  and  yet  such  great  men  as 
Robert  Morris  have  been  ignored. 

In  this  connection  I  can  not  help  but  be  reminded 


392  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

of  another  great  American,  whose  name  is  forever 
linked  in  immortal  fraternity  with  that  of  Robert 
Morris;  one  who  did  as  much,  if  not  more,  to  aid  the 
struggling  colonists  than  any  other  American  of  his 
day.  I  allude  to  Haym  Salomon,  of  Philadelphia, 
the  Polish  Jewish  exile  who  adopted  the  United  States 
as  his  home,  and  the  Jerusalem  of  the  prophet's 
promise;  who  enjoyed  the  confidence,  esteem,  and 
respect  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe, 
and  Morris;  who  loaned  the  United  States  Treasury 
nearly  $300,000 — a  sum  fabulous  for  that  period; 
who,  at  his  own  expense,  sent  an  agent  to  Spain  to 
prevent  that  country  from  joining  England  against 
the  colonies;  who,  as  is  shown  by  the  narrative  of 
Jared  Sparks,  loaned  money  to  the  great  statesmen 
of  that  period,  and  who  even  paid  their  board  bills 
at  the  time  they  were  members  of  Congress.  None 
of  these  loans,  neither  that  made  to  Robert  Morris, 
as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  or  to  the  individual 
statesmen,  were  ever  repaid.  With  a  generosity  as 
boundless  as  his  patriotism,  he  unselfishly  and  dis 
interestedly  gave  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  republic, 
recognizing  that  in  so  doing  he  was  aiding  the  insti 
tutions  which  conferred  liberty  of  conscience,  not 
only  to  his  own  co-religionists,  but  to  all  mankind. 
Time  and  again  his  descendants  had  bills  introduced 
in  Congress  asking  for  the  repayment  of  the  loan 
without  interest,  and  this  request  shared  the  fate  of 
a  thousand  other  meritorious  claims,  being  used  as 
the  shuttle  between  Senate  and  House,  weaving  the 
shroud  of  defeat  and  pigeon-hole,  while  thousands 
of  other  claims,  introduced  by  nonentities  for  imag 
inary  creeks  and  rivers,  were  successfully  passed. 

Only  four  years  ago,  the  heirs  having  abandoned 
all  desire  for  reimbursement,  I  attempted  to  have 
Congress  pass  an  act,  authorizing  the  striking  of  a 
gold  medal  in  commemoration  of  this  glorious  event, 
so  that  the  descendents  of  Haym  Salomon  might  at 
least  have  an  heirloom  to  treasure  the  glorious  deeds 
of  their  illustrious  ancestor.  But  this  simple  act  of 


GENERAL  CHARLES  H.  LAUCHHEIMER,  OF  THE  MARINE  CORPS 
1918 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  393 

justice  failed,  and  I  am  therefore  emboldened  at  this 
hour,  when  in  the  Statuary  Hall  of  the  Capitol,  where 
are  so  many  Americans  immortalized  in  marble  and 
bronze,  to  recall  to  the  statesman  of  the  United  States 
and  to  its  patriotic  citizens  this  episode  of  American 
history,  and  ask,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  just  and 
equitable,  whether  the  hour  has  not  come  to  do  jus 
tice  to  the  name  of  Haym  Salomon? 
Washington,  D.  C. 

General  Charles  H.  Lauchheimer,  of  the  United 
States  Marine  Corps,  was  as  the  result  of  a  personal 
controversy  with  the  then  Commandant  of  the  Marine 
Corps,  transferred  from  the  Adjutant  and  Inspector's 
Office  of  the  Marine  Corps  Headquarters  at  Wash 
ington,  D.  C.,  a  position  he  held  by  law,  to  the  Philip 
pine  Islands.  In  due  course  of  time  he  was  trans 
ferred  to  San  Francisco,  and  finally  returned  to  his 
former  post  in  the  City  of  Washington. 

President  Taft  took  an  active  interest  in  this  mat 
ter,  and  did  full  and  ample  justice  in  the  case. 

The  appreciation  by  the  Army,  Navy  and  Marine 
Corps  officers  of  Colonel  Lauchheimer  is  best  evi 
denced  by  the  fact  that  as  soon  as  he  landed  in 
Manila,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Army  and 
Navy  Club,  and  when  he  returned  to  Washington 
the  same  distinction  was  conferred  by  the  Army  and 
Navy  Club  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

He  has  lately  by  act  of  Congress  and  by  virtue  of 
has  great  ability  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Gen 
eral.  He  holds  the  position  of  Adjutant  General  and 
Inspector  of  the  Marine  Corps. 

It  is  the  first  instance  in  the  history  of  the  Republic 
that  an  American  citizen  of  Jewish  faith  has  been 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  General  in  the  Marine  Corps. 


394  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

In  connection  with  their  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
I  wrote  the  President  and  Mrs.  Taft  a  letter  of  con 
gratulation,  to  which  I  received  the  following  reply: 

White  House,  June  17,  1911. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Mrs.  Taft  and  I  very  deeply  appreciate  the  kind 
congratulations  and  good  wishes  which  you  express 
in  your  letters  of  June  15th  on  behalf  of  yourself 
personally  and  of  the  organizations  represented  by 
you  in  Washington.  Please  accept  our  warm  thanks. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  G. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Order  of  B'nai 
B'rith  sent  a  magnificent  basket  of  orchids  to  the 
President  and  Mrs.  Taft  on  their  twenty-fifth  anni 
versary,  which  were  greatly  appreciated  by  them. 

On  the  same  page  in  my  Seventieth  Year  Book, 
whereon  Grover  Cleveland  wrote  his  sentiment, 
President  Taft  wrote: 

"I  congratulate  you  to  a  green  old  age,  thou  sage 
in  Israel. 

WILLIAM  HOWARD  TAFT." 


GENERAL  JULIUS  STAHEL 

General  Julius  Stahel,  a  patriotic  citizen  of  Hun 
gary  and  the  United  States,  and  who  was  the  military 
escort  of  President  Lincoln  to  Gettysburg  in  Novem 
ber,  1863,  when  the  great  and  immortal  address  was 
delivered,  died  in  December,  1912.  A  few  weeks 
prior  to  his  death,  President  Taft  sent  his  aide, 
Major  Butt  to  convey  his  congratulations,  and  a  beau 
tiful  bunch  of  White  House  roses  in  commemoration 


JULIUS  STAHEL 
HUNGARIAN  PATRIOT  AND  MAJOR  GENERAL  U.  S.  V. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  395 

of  the  General's  87th  birthday.  General  Stahel  was 
buried  December  6,  1912,  at  Arlington  Cemetery, 
and  at  his  grave  I  delivered  the  following  eulogy: 

Major-General  Julius  Stahel  was  a  Hungarian  by 
birth,  an  American  by  adoption,  and  by  those  very 
facts,  a  lover  of  liberty  and  equal  rights.  A  noble 
man  by  title,  as  well  as  by  nature,  he  left  the 
Austrian-Italian  service  as  an  officer,  and  joined  the 
ranks  of  his  Hungarian  compatriots,  who  were  fight 
ing  for  the  emancipation  of  their  countrymen.  A 
close  friend  of  Louis  Kossuth,  and  aide  on  his  per 
sonal  staff,  he  fought  heroically  during  the  struggle. 
Was  wounded  and  decorated  on  the  field  of  battle. 
The  Revolution  unfortunately,  owing  to  the  inter 
vention  of  Russia,  failed,  and  General  Stahel  came 
to  the  United  States,  to  enrich  our  country,  as  so 
many  other  noble  sons  of  all  lands  have  done,  in  aid 
of  the  progress  and  glory  of  our  nation.  Our  strug 
gle  for  independence  brought  Lafayette,  Steuben, 
DeKalb,  Pulaski,  Muhlenberg,  Gallatin,  and  other 
great  patriots,  who  aided  the  immortal  Washington 
in  securing  for  us  the  priceless  boon  of  liberty  and 
independence.  So  our  second  struggle  for  national 
life  brought  to  the  forefront  other  men,  born  in  other 
lands,  who  strengthened  the  ties  of  kinship,  and 
secured  more  firmly  than  ever  the  bonds  of  the  na 
tional  union,  such  as  Schurz,  Sigel,  Blenker,  Von 
Steinwehr,  Stahel,  and  many  others  too  numerous  to 
mention.  Thus  proving  beyond  all  controversy  the 
deep  and  abiding  faith  these  adopted  citizens  of  our 
republic  had  in  the  perpetuity  of  our  country,  and 
gave  in  the  days  of  struggle  and  trial,  freely  and  un- 
stintingly,  as  they  did  during  the  days  of  peace. 

General  Stahel  enlisted  in  the  Eighth  New  York 


396  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Volunteers,  and  as  is  now  historically  established, 
Blenker's  Brigade,  of  which  the  Eighth  New  York 
formed  a  part,  stemmed  the  tide  of  disaster  at  the 
first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  the  Confederate  archives 
will  corroborate  this  statement.  By  splendid  serv 
ice,  gallantry  and  bravery,  he  rose  step  by  step,  until 
he  became  Major-General  of  Volunteers,  command 
ing  at  one  time  the  Eleventh  Army  Corps,  and  at 
another  time  a  large  division  of  cavalry. 

President  Lincoln  had  unbounded  confidence  in 
his  skill  as  a  commander,  and  his  loyalty  as  an 
American,  and  trusted  him  with  a  part  of  the  de 
fenses  of  Washington.  He  was  selected  as  the  Presi 
dent's  escort  to  Gettysburg,  where  the  sainted  martyr 
pronounced  his  immortal  address.  The  General  re 
ceived  the  Medal  of  Honor  for  conspicuous  bravery 
on  the  field  of  battle  of  Piedmont,  where,  although 
wounded,  and  urged  to  retire  to  the  rear,  he  had  his 
wounds  bound  up,  and  was  placed  on  horseback, 
and  continued  in  the  fight  until  victory  had  been 
achieved. 

As  a  Diplomat  in  China  and  Japan,  he  was  recog 
nized  by  the  State  Department,  and  all  the  officials 
of  those  two  governments,  as  a  man  of  consummate 
tact  and  liberal  judgment.  So  much  so  that  when 
the  Cleveland  administration  came  into  power,  Sec 
retary  Bayard  urged  him  not  to  resign,  as  his  serv 
ices  had  been  so  conspicuously  brilliant. 

As  an  official  of  one  of  the  large  financial  interests 
of  New  York,  he  gave  evidence  of  an  intelligent  com 
prehension  of  the  duties  incident  to  his  position,  and 
aided  materially  in  broadening  and  enlarging  the 
scope  and  sphere  of  their  business  in  the  Orient. 

So  we  can  safely  say  that  along  all  the  lines  of 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  397 

human  achievement,  General  Stahel  never  failed  to 
do  his  duty.  He  was  the  soul  of  honor,  cheerful, 
entertaining  companion,  lovable  in  all  his  ways,  and 
his  acts  of  friendship  and  philanthropy  are  as  many 
as  his  days  were.  He  had  a  kind  word  for  every 
one,  never  harsh  in  his  criticisms  or  judgment,  but 
firm,  manly  and  conscientious  in  his  opinions.  He 
had  a  large  circle  of  influential  and  loving  friends, 
who  looked  upon  him  as  a  model,  and  who  were 
honored  by  his  friendship. 

There  is  no  occasion  to  mourn  his  loss — on  the 
contrary,  we  should  be  cheered  by  the  knowledge  of 
having  known  such  a  splendid  example  of  manhood, 
who  enriched  our  country  with  his  brawn  and  brain, 
and  who  will  live  in  the  memory  of  those  surviving, 
and  go  down  on  the  pages  of  our  national  history  as 
a  son  worthy  of  his  country.  A  peerless  knight  "sans 
peur  et  sans  reproche,"  whose  life's  sun  set  in  the 
furtherest  regions  of  the  western  slope. 

Dear  friend,  patriotic  American,  genial  companion, 
gallant  soldier,  refined  gentleman,  we  salute  you,  and 
as  the  circling  sun  and  moon  will  greet  your  remains 
at  morn  and  noon,  and  as  the  stars  in  their  vigils 
will  cast  their  glorious  sheen  on  the  mound  beneath 
which  you  sleep,  so  will  we  ever  cherish  and  honor 
your  memory.  Auf  wiedersehen. 

I  was  a  faithful  adherent  of  Mr.  Taft's  political 
fortunes  and  did  what  was  proper  in  the  advocacy 
of  his  re-election.  I  did  not  then,  nor  do  I  now,  be 
lieve  he  was  justly  treated,  and  therefore  remained 
faithful  to  the  party  traditions.  I  saw  the  President 
quite  often  during  those  memorable  days  preceding, 
during  and  after  the  nomination.  I  met  him  in 


398  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Atlantic  City  when  he  was  touring  the  country,  and 
felt  deeply  touched  by  the  sincerity  of  his  speeches. 
I  feared  that  the  result  would  be  disastrous,  yet  could 
not  but  consider  that  he  was  inspired  by  no  other 
motive  than  that  of  doing  the  right  thing  in  view  of 
all  of  the  conditions  of  his  administration. 

A  few  days  prior  to  President  Taft's  retirement 
from  office  I  addressed  a  letter  to  him: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Feb'y  27,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President : 

As  I  am  leaving  for  New  York  today  not  to  return 
until  Saturday  evening,  and  which  more  than  likely 
will  prevent  me  from  seeing  you  at  the  White  House, 
as  I  know  you  will  be  very  busy  on  Monday,  I  take 
this  occasion  to  extend  to  you  my  sincere  and  heart 
felt  thanks  and  congratulations.  I  have  time  and 
again  expressed  to  you  and  others  the  great  admira 
tion  I  have  always  entertained  for  you  personally 
and  officially,  and  the  future  will  more  than  justify 
that  sentiment. 

I  sincerely  hope  that  you  will  have  a  good  rest 
from  the  strenuous  duties  you  have  undergone,  and 
that  you  will  have  health  and  happiness  galore.  I 
trust  you  will  always  have  a  small  reservation  in  that 
big  heart  of  yours  for 

Yours  ever  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

To  which  he  replied: 

The  White  House,  February  28, 1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Thank  you  very  much  for  your  letter  of  February 
27th.  I  greatly  appreciate  the  friendly  and  sympa 
thetic  interest  which  you  have  manifested  toward  me 
and  my  administration,  and  I  am  gratified  to  have 
had  your  approval  and  your  good  will. 
With  warm  regard, 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  399 

The  Washington  Post  of  Sunday,  March  2,  1913, 
had  a  very  beautiful  tribute  to  President  Taft,  which 
I  can  not  refrain  from  embodying  herein: 

WILLIAM  H.  TAFT— THE  MAN. 

On  Tuesday  at  noon  William  H.  Taft  will  become 
a  private  citizen.  The  glamour  of  office  will  vanish, 
and  the  power  of  the  Presidency  will  pass.  He  will 
leave  Washington,  the  scene  of  his  long  labors,  and 
nothing  attaching  to  the  mightiest  office  on  earth  will 
go  with  him. 

But  he  will  go  away  with  something  in  his  heart 
that  neither  riches,  nor  power,  nor  prestige,  nor  po 
litical  skill  can  give;  something  that  neither  detrac 
tion,  nor  misrepresentation,  nor  defeat  can  take 
away.  He  will  take  with  him  the  lasting  friendship 
and  affection  of  the  American  people. 

William  H.  Taft  has  gone  through  one  of  the  most 
astonishing  episodes  in  the  history  of  the  country. 
He  has  been  called  upon  to  endure  an  experience 
which,  but  for  the  fact  that  he  was  true  to  himself, 
and,  therefore,  true  to  every  man,  would  have  been 
keenly  humiliating.  He  went  into  office  by  an  enor 
mous  vote.  He  leaves  it  after  a  historic  defeat.  But, 
in  spite  of  defeat,  and,  because  of  his  splendid  bear 
ing  in  defeat,  he  is  one  of  the  best  loved  men  who 
ever  occupied  the  White  House. 

Other  men  may  look  back  at  the  election  in  No 
vember  with  chagrin,  or  humiliation,  or  regret,  ac 
cording  to  the  part  they  played.  But  Mr.  Taft  can 
look  back  upon  it  with  no  bitterness  of  heart,  no 
humiliation,  and  no  regret;  and  we  believe  that  he 
does. 

History  will  take  care  of  William  H.  Taft,  and  he 
leaves  his  record  to  the  judgment  of  his  countrymen, 
secure  in  the  knowledge  that  he  has  acted  always 
with  honor  and  in  obedience  to  an  honest  sense  of 
duty.  His  heart  has  been  right;  his  faith  in  his  fel 
lows  has  not  been  impaired;  his  devotion  to  the  law 


400  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

and  the  Constitution  has  inspired  him  always,  and 
he  has  never  misused  his  power  or  influence  for  the 
benefit  of  any  man  or  any  cause. 

Let  history  deal  with  the  public  acts  of  Mr.  Taft 
and  the  Taft  administration.  They  will  stand  exam 
ination,  and  will  wear  well  against  time.  Of  Mr. 
Taft's  personality  and  private  character,  posterity 
will  judge  best  by  reading  the  estimate  of  his  con 
temporaries.  Posterity  will  learn  that  he  won  the 
admiration  even  of  his  opponents  by  his  optimism 
and  kindheartedness  in  the  midst  of  detraction  and 
defeat;  that  he  radiated  good  cheer  and  good  fellow 
ship;  that  he  bore  his  honors  meekly,  met  misfor 
tunes  smilingly,  performed  his  duties  courageously, 
and  at  all  times  lived  so  that  all  the  world  might 
look  into  his  heart  and  find  it  wholesome. 

The  new  President  of  the  United  States  could  not 
wish  for  better  fortune  than  to  go  out  of  the  White 
House,  in  his  turn,  with  the  strong  affection  and 
hearty  good  wishes  that  follow  William  H.  Taft. 

I  could  add  nothing  more  to  these  splendid  and 
truthful  sentiments  than  that  I  heartily  echo  every 
one  of  them,  as  I  believe  the  majority  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States  also  do. 

I  can  not  at  length  say  all  that  I  should  love  to  in 
regard  to  the  characteristics  of  President  Taft.  He 
is  still,  thank  Heaven,  with  us,  a  tower  of  strength 
in  every  civic  and  patriotic  movement  of  our  Gov 
ernment.  Enough  for  me  to  say  that  like  some  of 
his  eminent  predecessors,  Mr.  Taft  will  rank  high  as 
an  executive  of  eminent  ability.  Genial,  whole- 
souled,  he  adorned  every  position  he  filled,  and  the 
future  historian  will  give  him  first  rank  among  our 
American  Presidents. 

Some  of  the  correspondence  that  passed  between 
Mr.  Taft  and  myself  since  his  retirement  is  herewith 
given  and  explains  itself,  while  others  are  reserved 


WILLIAM   HOWARD  TAFT  401 

for  the  historian  of  the  future,  when  both  writers 
shall  have  crossed  the  bar: 

January  4,  1915. 
Hon.  William  Howard  Taft, 

New  Haven,  Conn. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

My  attention  has  been  called  to  an  address  which 
you  delivered  before  the  Young  Men's  Hebrew  Asso 
ciation  of  New  York.  I  am  well  aware  that  news 
paper  articles  are  not  always  reliable  as  to  the  full 
context.  Therefore  I  write  to  you  to  know  your 
exact  meaning  as  to  the  criticism  you  made  of  secret 
societies. 

I  infer  without  having  your  answer  that  your  opin 
ion  was  leveled  at  religious  societies  who  made  use 
of  their  secrecy  in  the  interest  of  politics,  or  to  the 
injury  of  other  religious  bodies.  You  certainly  could 
not  have  intended  fraternal  organizations  such  as  the 
Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  whose  medal  of  honor  you  so 
worthily  wear,  for  that  organization,  secret  as  it  is, 
works  solely  in  the  interest  of  humanity — its  aims 
and  objects  being  thoroughly  American  and  patri 
otic,  and  at  the  same  time,  cosmopolitan.  It  was 
founded  not  in  opposition  to  any  other  form  of  faith, 
but  to  strengthen  the  lines  of  brotherhood  among  all 
men,  and  to  educate  the  incoming  immigrants  to  a 
full  realization  of  their  civic  duty.  You  will  remem 
ber  at  the  great  meeting  held  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  where  you  honored  us  by  being  one  of  the 
speakers,  you  heard  in  a  feeble  outline  delivered  by 
me,  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  that  great  organiza 
tion. 

I  fully  concur  with  you  that  any  attempt  on  the 
part  of  any  secret  religious  society  to  undermine  the 
superstructure  of  our  form  of  government  is  criminal 
and  dangerous,  but  Associations  such  as  I  have  de 
scribed,  and  other  kindred  organizations,  are  helpful 
and  beneficial. 

Wishing  you  a  Happy  New  Year,  I  am, 

Sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 


402  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  January  6,  1915. 
My  Dear  Simon  Wolf: 

I  have  yours  of  January  4th.  Of  course  I  had  no 
intention  of  instituting  a  crusade  against  Secret  So 
cieties,  for  I  belong  to  the  Masons.  I  was  a  Secret 
Society  man  in  college.  Of  course  my  remarks  are 
to  he  taken  in  the  connection  in  which  they  were 
uttered.  What  I  referred  to  was  a  Secret  Society 
with  political  aims  engaged  in  pushing  a  bigoted 
prejudice  into  the  election  or  rejection  of  candidates 
for  public  office. 

Happy  New  Year. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  C. 


WOODROW  WILSON 
1913 


WOODROW  WILSON 

Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of  the  United  States, 
has  spoken  in  words  that  need  no  amplification  on 
my  part.  His  administration,  outside  of  the  Civil 
War,  is  undoubtedly  the  most  momentous  in  the  his 
tory  of  our  country,  in  the  conditions  that  surround 
the  nation  requiring  sane  statesmanship,  sound  rea 
soning,  logical  thinking,  and  prompt  and  patriotic 
action.  I  believe  Mr.  Wilson  possesses  these  eminent 
attributes  in  a  high  degree.  His  messages  to  Con 
gress,  notably  those  of  recent  date,  mark  a  lofty  con 
ception  of  duty,  fearlessness  of  expression,  and  an 
eloquent  diction  unsurpassed  in  the  annals  of  our 
country.  His  estimate  of  the  difference  between  au 
tocracy  and  democracy,  between  civilization  and 
barbarism,  marks  an  epoch  worthy  of  the  best  tradi 
tions  of  our  country. 

I  am  most  happy  to  state  that  although  differing 
from  the  President  in  matters  of  party  politics,  his 
personal  and  official  treatment  of  me  has  been  most 
cordial.  I  have  had  the  honor  and  privilege  of  writ 
ing  to  him  on  various  subjects,  all  of  which  have 
received  his  most  prompt  and  satisfactory  attention, 
exceptionally  so,  as  will  be  shown  by  the  various 
letters  which  will  be  set  forth  hereafter. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  insert  herein,  as  evidence 
of  my  first  intercourse  with  President  Wilson,  after 
his  inauguration,  the  following  letter  which  I  ad 
dressed  to  him: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  March  5,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President: 

I  sincerely  and  heartily  congratulate  you  for  the 
splendid  and  humanizing  Inaugural  you  delivered 


404  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

yesterday.     It  is  worthy  of  your  past  record,  and  is 
illuminating  as  to  your  future  conduct. 

As  an  American  citizen,  I  am  ready  to  serve  in  the 
ranks  to  aid  you  in  the  course  you  have  outlined  for 
yourself  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  Nation. 

Very  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

To  which  I  received  the  following  answer: 

The  White  House,  March  6,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

The  President  directs  me  to  acknowledge  receipt 
of  your  kind  letter  of  March  5th,  and  to  thank  you 
for  writing  it.  He  is  glad  to  learn  that  his  Inaugural 
address  meets  with  your  approval. 

Sincerely  yours, 

J.  P.  TUMULTY, 
Secretary  to  the  President. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  C. 

From  the  very  beginning,  even  before  he  was  elec 
ted  President  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Wilson  took  a 
deep  interest  in  immigration  affairs,  and  all  condi 
tions  pertaining  thereto;  as  an  evidence  thereof  I 
desire  to  reproduce  herein  an  editorial  which  ap 
peared  in  one  of  the  newspapers  on  the  occasion  of 
Mr.  Wilson's  visit  to  Ellis  Island: 

"President-elect  Wilson's  visit  to  the  Immigration 
Station  on  Ellis  Island  was  a  significant  incident.  It 
is  well  for  the  man  who  is  to  be  Chief  Magistrate  of 
this  Republic  to  see  with  his  own  eyes  the  working 
of  the  system  by  which  prospective  new  citizens  are 
admitted.  Gov.  Wilson  had  little  time  to  examine 
closely  the  methods  employed  by  the  immigration 
officers  to  test  the  fitness  of  aliens  seeking  admis 
sion,  but  he  saw  enough,  doubtless,  to  leave  an  in 
delible  picture  on  his  mind  which  may  serve,  in  some 


WOODROW  WILSON  405 

way,  to  help  him  when  some  problem  relating  to 
immigration  calls  for  his  official  notice. 

"We  need  immigrants  who  are  healthy,  industrious 
and  law-abiding.  Restrictions  on  the  diseased,  in 
competent,  and  criminally  inclined  can  not  be  too 
sternly  enforced.  But  any  general  restriction  of  im 
migration  would  work  ill  for  the  country.  The  South 
and  the  West  need  farmers  and  farm  laborers,  the 
North  and  the  East  need  industrial  workers.  We 
must  take  them  as  they  come  and  teach  them  to  be 
come  good  citizens.  Many  of  the  men  whom  the 
President-elect  saw  on  Saturday  at  the  great  gate  of 
the  port  will  be  citizens  in  five  years.  Some  of  them 
may  turn  out  to  be  bad  citizens,  but  if  the  officers  at 
Ellis  Island  have  done  their  duty  in  admitting  them, 
that  result  will  likely  be  as  much  the  country's  fault 
as  theirs." 

From  the  commencement  of  President  Wilson's 
administration  I  had  several  interviews  with  him 
and  acknowledgments  from  his  private  secretary  to 
communications  sent  to  the  President,  which  for  ob 
vious  reasons  had  best  not  be  published  at  this  time. 

When  President  Wilson  was  elected,  thus  for  the 
time  being  ending  the  Republican  administration, 
many  of  my  friends  thought  my  usefulness  as  a  rep 
resentative  of  various  interests,  especially  the  wel 
fare  of  our  people,  would  be  at  an  end,  but  the  best 
proof  that  this  was  an  erroneous  conclusion  is  the 
fact  that  one  month  after  the  Inauguration  a  banquet 
was  given  by  District  Grand  Lodge  No.  5,  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  to  which  I  had 
invited  the  President,  Vice-President,  Secretary  of 
State,  Secretary  of  Labor,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Judge  Julian  W.  Mack,  and  other  notable  men.  The 
President  on  account  of  a  previous  engagement  could 
not  honor  us  with  his  presence.  However,  the  Vice- 


406  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

President,  the  Secretary  of  State,  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Bryan;  Secretary  Daniels,  and  Secretary  Wil 
son,  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  all  were  there,  and 
responded  to  toasts.  Unfortunately,  I  have  only  Sec 
retary  Daniels  response,  which  is  given  herewith : 

"I  count  it  a  blessing  and  a  privilege  that  as  a  boy 
I  grew  up  in  a  village  in  which  one  of  its  first  citizens 
and  a  near  neighbor  and  friend  was  Emil  Rosenthal, 
a  merchant  prince  of  his  community,  whose  heart 
was  touched  by  pity  for  misfortune  and  whose  purse 
was  open  to  alleviate  human  suffering.  His  whole 
life  may  be  illustrated  by  an  incident  that  impressed 
itself  on  my  memory.  One  morning  the  news  was 
brought  to  town  that  the  house  of  a  poor  farmer  had 
been  burned  and  his  large  family  was  homeless.  At 
the  postoffice,  where  the  people  gathered,  many  ex 
pressions  of  sympathy  were  heard.  Mr.  Rosenthal 
came  into  the  company  to  get  his  Baltimore  Sun, 
which  he  read  every  day  of  his  life.  He  listened  to 
the  words  of  sympathy,  and  then  remarked:  'I  am 
sorry  fifty  dollars  worth,'  and,  turning  to  those  loud 
est  in  expressing  their  sorrow,  he  asked,  'How  sorry 
are  you?'  This  direct  appeal  brought  large  contri 
butions  from  the  neighbors.  In  a  somewhat  varied 
life  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  find  that  this 
practical  charity  of  one  of  my  earliest  Hebrew  friends 
is  characteristic  of  the  whole  race  of  which  he  was 
an  ornament,  as  well  as  an  example  for  emulation 
by  men  of  other  faiths  and  other  races.  My  ablest 
college  friend  was  the  most  brilliant  youth  of  my 
acquaintance,  a  splendid  young  Hebrew,  Soloman 
Cohen  Weil,  who  died  in  his  young  manhood,  joined 
me  on  Sunday  afternoons  in  the  study  of  the  Bible. 
Before  he  was  twenty-five  years  old  he  was  Profes 
sor  of  Greek  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  and 
who,  though  dying  before  thirty,  had  won  an  enviable 
place  among  the  ablest  men  of  the  Empire  State  of 
New  York.  I  take  it  that  it  is  because  of  such  inti- 


JOSEPHUS  DANIELS 
SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY 


WOODROW   WILSON  407 

macies  and  friendships  in  my  North  Carolina  home 
that  I  am  honored  by  an  invitation  to  be  with  you 
tonight.  By  the  most  sacred  ties  of  my  life  I  am 
bound  to  your  people,  and  no  man  of  your  race  and 
belief  rejoices  more  in  the  glorious  work  of  this 
noble  organization  than  your  speaker.  I  sometimes 
think  if  it  were  possible  for  all  men  to  live  in  small 
communities,  like  the  one  in  which  I  was  reared, 
where  you  can  know  your  neighbor  intimately,  there 
would  be  such  an  appreciation  and  regard  of  our 
fellows  as  to  make  a  complete  acceptance  of  the 
brotherhood  of  men  of  all  shades  of  opinion,  relig 
ious  and  political.  The  Scattered  Nation,  of  which 
Senator  Vance,  of  North  Carolina,  spoke  with  ripe 
knowledge  in  such  a  way  as  to  become  the  idol  of 
Hebrews  everywhere,  constitutes  the  Gulf  Stream  of 
America's  population.  Clearly  demarcated,  a  part 
of  the  ocean  and  yet  keeping  in  its  own  separate 
channels  the  Gulf  Stream  warms  the  shores  of  north 
ern  Europe  and  tempers  the  rigors  of  every  clime  it 
borders.  So  the  Jewish  race,  coursing  through  the 
arteries  of  other  races  and  tongues,  is  a  valued  part 
of  all  social  and  political  and  industrial  life,  giving 
of  its  best  to  making  all  mankind  better  and  happier 
by  its  stimulating  intellectuality  and  its  devotion  to 
its  high  standard.  The  Hebrew  race  has  made  good 
in  everything  it  ever  attempted,  and  though  not  gen 
erally  known,  this  includes  the  sea.  The  parents  of 
Moses  applied  rather  early  to  have  him  admitted  as 
a  midshipman,  and  it  was  while  he  was  navigating 
the  Nile  that  opportunity,  in  the  guise  of  Pharaoh's 
beautiful  daughter,  held  out  the  soft,  white  hand 
that  lifted  him  to  the  palace,  to  the  court,  to  the 
schools  of  Egypt,  and  made  him  the  man  who  gave 
the  world  the  Decalogue.  Jonah  was  the  first  captain 
of  a  submarine.  However,  the  great  engineers  de 
clare  that  the  lines  and  measurements  of  the  battle 
ship  and  the  ocean  liner  are  modeled  closely  after 
those  of  the  Ark,  though  Noah  today  might  be  con 
sidered  by  some  as  deserving  of  court-martial  for 


408  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

running  his  vessel  aground.  It  is  only  a  little  over 
three  weeks  since  I  was  called  to  your  city  to  become 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  though  I  have  been  hard 
at  work,  I  fear  I  have  not  yet  learned  enough  to 
speak  upon  the  right  arm  of  American  defense  as 
fully  as  I  hope  to  be  able  to  do  after  a  longer  service 
in  the  most  interesting  department  of  the  Govern 
ment. 

"John  Paul  Jones  was  the  hero  of  boys  of  my  State, 
particularly  because  its  greatest  citizen,  Wiley  Jones, 
gave  him  the  sword  that  now  reposes  in  the  Navy 
Department,  and  John  Paul  added,  'Jones'  to  his 
name  in  remembrance  of  the  goodness  to  him  of  the 
North  Carolina  patriots.  From  John  Paul  Jones  to 
Victor  Blue,  naval  heroes  have  been  enshrined  in  the 
affections  of  the  people  in  the  good  State  from  which 
I  hail,  and  my  present  ambition  is  to  be  able  as  best 
I  may  to  be  true  to  the  tradition  of  the  Department 
of  which  I  am  now  the  head.  I  will  confess  to  you 
the  secret  that  I  came  to  Washington  with  much  ap 
prehension  lest,  'land-lubber'  that  I  am,  I  would  not 
justify  the  President's  faith,  but  two  reflections  con 
soled  and  cheered  me.  One  was  the  story  of  a  prede 
cessor,  of  whom  it  is  told  that  during  his  first  months 
in  office  he  decided  to  take  a  trip  on  an  armored 
cruiser.  He  had  read  about  them,  and  when  invited 
to  go  below,  was  astonished  and  said :  'By  jinks,  the 
thing  is  hollow.  I  thought  it  was  solid.'  The  second 
comforting  suggestion  that  came  to  me  was  the  fact 
that  Gideon  Welles,  Lincoln's  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
had  the  same  experience  for  Secretary  of  the  Marine 
as  I  had,  namely,  he  had  long  been  editing  a  party 
newspaper  and  was  national  committeeman  of  his 
party.  He  made  a  reputation  as  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  but  most  by  the  recent  publications  of  his 
diary.  If  a  Connecticut  editor  could  manage  to  stand 
upon  the  deck,  I  reflect,  may  not  a  North  Carolina 
editor  do  likewise?  Such  was  my  thought  and  my 
encouragement.  The  story  of  our  Navy  has  never} 
been  fully  written.  From  its  beginning,  when  John 


WOODROW   WILSON  409 

Paul  Jones  left  North  Carolina  to  fight  for  the  free 
dom  of  man,  to  the  morning  when  Admiral  Dewey 
sailed  into  Manila  Bay  and  there  destroyed  the  Span 
ish  squadron,  our  Navy  has  fought  for  the  freedom 
of  the  sea.  The  success  of  our  Republic  is  due  in  a 
large  part  to  the  preparedness  and  efficiency  and  suc 
cessful  operation  of  its  naval  forces.  The  Navy  is 
the  strong  arm  of  the  Government.  Never  to  injure 
others,  never  for  aggression,  never  for  conquest, 
never  for  glory.  No  race  has  the  right  to  build  a 
Navy  for  national  boasting  and  glory,  but  only  for 
defense.  Every  dreadnought  ought  to  be  built  with 
the  prayer  that  it  will  never  be  used  and  with  the 
hope  that  the  day  will  come  when  universal  peace 
will  be  established." 

Secretary  of  State  Mr.  Bryan  requested  me  over 
the  telephone  to  call  at  the  Department  at  my  con 
venience  to  discuss  several  matters  of  importance 
concerning  my  coreligionists.  The  following  letter 
which  on  the  day  after  this  conference  I  addressed 
to  Hon.  Adolf  Kraus  will  give  a  brief  history  of  what 
took  place  between  the  Secretary  and  myself: 

June  28,  1913. 
Hon.  Adolf  Kraus, 

Chicago,  111. 
My  Dear  Kraus: 

Yesterday  W.  J.  B.  telephoned  over  to  have  me 
call  and  see  him.  It  was  a  curious  coincidence,  in 
asmuch  as  I  intended  to  go  to  see  him  today.  He 
desired  to  know  the  standing  and  character  of  the 
B'nai  B'rith,  whether  it  was  the  representative  Jew 
ish  organization,  and  whether  it  was  looked  upon  by 
the  Jewish  community  at  home  and  abroad,  as  rep 
resentative  and  worthy  of  confidence.  You  can 
easily  imagine  my  answer.  He  then  said  he  would 
ask  me  about  the  qualifications  of  a  number  of  men 
who  had  applied  for  office,  one  of  whom  the  Depart- 


410  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ment  wanted  to  appoint  in  the  diplomatic  services. 
Naturally  I  spoke  highly  of  those  who  deserved  it. 
In  this  connection  it  struck  me  that  Mr.  -  -  might 
possibly  want  to  go  as  Ambassador  to  Turkey,  or 
some  equally  representative  post.  I  told  him  that  it 
was  a  pity  that  Spain  had  been  promised  to  someone 
else,  as  it  would  have  been  a  fitting  recognition,  after 
the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  Spain,  to  send  a  citi 
zen  of  Jewish  faith  back  as  representative,  especially 
as  Spain  was  getting  quite  liberal  and  asking  Jews  to 
come  back.  He  said  he  felt  very  sorry  that  the  mat 
ter  had  not  been  called  to  his  attention,  as  he  would 
have  been  pleased  to  have  accepted  my  suggestion. 

He  told  me  that  he  had  sent  for  me,  knowing  that 
I  was  the  representative  of  the  Order  in  Washington, 
and  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congrega 
tions,  and  that  it  was  easy  to  get  a  Democrat  but  not 
so  easy  to  get  a  representative  of  a  class. 

I  then  told  him  about  the  escapades  in  regard  to 
your  letters,  and  he  laughed  heartily,  and  said  he 
bore  no  ill-will — on  the  contrary,  he  admired  you  for 
your  frankness,  and  thanked  you  for  your  good  will, 
and  is  going  to  take  further  action,  although  some 
has  already  been  taken,  in  the  Roumanian  matter. 

He  also  assured  me  that  the  administration  would 
make  no  treaty  with  any  government  in  which  the 
rights  of  all  American  citizens  were  not  recognized. 
The  interview  was  quite  lengthy,  in  every  way  satis 
factory,  and  indeed  quite  complimentary  to  the  Or 
der  and  its  worthy  Chief. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

On  December  3,  1913,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Department  of  State,  making  inquiry  as  to  whether 
or  not  negotiations  were  pending  between  our  coun 
try  and  Russia  looking  towards  an  early  commercial 
treaty,  and  if  so,  whether  the  State  Department 
would  adhere  to  its  action  so  far  as  to  the  recogni- 


WOODROW   WILSON  411 

tion  of  the  American  passport  when  in  the  hands  of 
any  of  its  citizens,  irrespective  of  their  religious  faith 
or  nationality.  In  answer  to  which,  I  received  the 
following  reply: 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  December  6,  1913. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  G. 
Sir: 

The  Department  begs  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  letter  of  September  3rd,  in  which  you  in 
quire  whether  there  are  any  negotiations  pending 
between  this  country  and  Russia  looking  towards  an 
early  commercial  treaty,  and  if  so,  whether  the  State 
Department  will  adhere  to  its  action  so  far  taken  as 
to  the  recognition  of  the  American  passport  when 
in  the  hands  of  any  of  its  citizens,  irrespective  of 
their  religious  faith  or  nationality. 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry  I  have  to  inform  you  that 
there  are  no  negotiations  pending  between  this  coun 
try  and  Russia  for  a  new  commercial  treaty. 
I  am,  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

For  the  Secretary  of  State, 
J.  H.  MOORE,  Counselor. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
celebration  of  the  Hebrew  Orphan's  Home  of  At 
lanta,  Georgia,  of  which  I  am  the  founder  and  w'as 
the  president  for  twenty-five  years,  I  sent  to  Presi 
dent  Wilson  a  souvenir  publication  of  the  occasion. 
In  acknowledging  the  same,  he  sent  me  the  following 
letter,  which  I  deeply  appreciated: 

The  White  House,  March  26,  1914. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf : 

I  warmly  congratulate  you  upon  the  completion  of 
the  twenty-fifth  year  of  the  work  of  the  Hebrew 


412  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Orphan's  Home.  It  is  an  institution  that  has  done 
a  work  of  which  you  have  every  reason  to  be  deeply 
proud.  How  fortunate  you  are  to  have  been  able  to 
do  this  distinguished  work  of  charity.  It  must  af 
ford  you  a  great  deal  of  genuine  happiness. 
Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

2013  Columbia  Road, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

In  my  Seventieth  Year  Book,  President  Wilson 
wrote  the  following  sentiment: 

"Let  us  pray  that  our  dear  country  mixed  of 
almost  every  element  of  the  modern  world,  may 
have  sympathies  as  wide  as  the  world,  put  away 
the  provincialism  of  prejudice  and  fulfil  her 
mission  of  justice  and  humanity  to  the  utmost. 

WOODROW  WILSON." 

7th  June,  1914. 

In  my  copy  of  "The  History  of  the  People  of  the 
United  States,"  written  by  Woodrow  Wilson,  he 
wrote  on  the  fly-leaf  of  the  first  volume  in  June, 
1914,  the  following: 

"This  is  too  large  a  stage,  the  play  moves  with 
too  varied  a  plot  for  any  spectator  to  see  more 
than  a  typical  incident  here  and  there — the  main 
motive  and  the  chief  figures  of  the  epic  drama, 
may  that  much  be  really  seen  and  vividly,  in 
these  pages. 

WOODROW  WILSON." 

During  the  early  part  of  1915,  a  hearing  was  given 
by  the  Immigration  Committee  of  the  House  to  vari- 


WOODROW   WILSON  413 

ous  representatives,  on  the  Immigration  Bill  pending 
at  that  time  before  that  Committee.  The  Burnett 
Bill,  as  the  law  was  known,  contained  the  vetoed 
literacy  test  and  other  features  that  were  more  or 
less  objectionable. 

The  American  Jewish  Committee  was  represented 
by  Mr.  Cyrus  Sulzberger,  the  president;  Mr.  Louis 
Marshall  being  absent  on  account  of  pending  court 
business;  the  Board  of  Delegates  and  the  Order  of 
B'nai  B'rith  were  represented  by  Hon.  Abram  I. 
Elkus  and  Mr.  Max  J.  Kohler,  of  New  York  City,  and 
myself. 

Mr.  Sulzberger  made  a  strong  presentation  along 
various  lines  of  Jewish  activity,  and  his  reasons  for 
opposing  the  literacy  test.  He  was  listened  to  with 
attention  and  questioned  by  a  number  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Committee.  Mr.  Elkus,  like  Mr.  Sulz 
berger,  made  an  admirable  statement  and  recom 
mendation  as  to  what  would  be  desirable  in  chang 
ing  the  character  of  the  pending  Immigration  Bill. 
Mr.  Elkus  was  also  interrupted  by  numerous  ques 
tions.  Mr.  Kohler,  as  usual,  made  a  lucid,  logical 
and  historical  statement  in  regard  to  immigration, 
of  which  subject  he  is  a  past  master.  Mr.  Morrison, 
the  secretary  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
was  put  on  the  stand  and  for  six  hours  made  an 
elaborate  statement,  and  answered  innumerable 
questions  from  each  and  every  member  of  the  Com 
mittee,  and  while  the  friends  of  the  immigrant  could 
not  agree  with  Mr.  Morrison  in  what  he  demanded 
so  urgently  in  the  interest  of  labor,  yet  it  could  not 
be  gainsaid  that  he  made  a  strong,  intelligent  pre 
sentation. 

The  Committee  was  in  session  for  fourteen  long 


414  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

hours,  except  for  a  recess  to  eat  a  bite.  It  was  at 
1.30  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  when  the 
chance  came  for  me  to  speak.  I  had  very  patiently 
waited,  and  while  an  effort  was  made  to  take  a  re 
cess  and  postpone  hearing  me  until  the  morning  of 
the  13th,  it  was  determined  by  the  Committee  that 
they  would  hear  me,  and  thus  conclude  the  hearing. 

I  spoke  on  all  that  immigration  had  heretofore 
achieved;  stated  the  Jewish  position  on  this  subject 
with  lucidity,  and  pointed  out  how  Jewish  immi 
grants  coming  from  Russia  and  Roumania  differ  en 
tirely  from  the  general  immigration;  that  they  were 
not  immigrants  but  refugees,  fleeing  from  religious 
and  political  persecution,  and  that  the  law  should  be 
so  changed  as  to  give  a  wide  discretion  to  the  Gov 
ernment  officials  in  admitting  these  unfortunate  vic 
tims  of  oppression  and  persecution. 

I  pointed  out  the  wonderful  work  the  Jewish  peo 
ple  were  doing  in  every  city  and  hamlet  of  the  coun 
try  in  aiding  these  incoming  future  Americans.  The 
Jewish  women  were  caring  for  the  girls  who  other 
wise  might  be  stranded;  that  they  did  not  become 
public  charges,  and  how  the  great  boon  of  American 
citizenship  entitled  them  to  fuller  consideration  when 
the  wife  and  children,  as  so  often  happens,  came  and 
one  or  more  of  the  group  afflicted  with  some  disease, 
that  the  citizen  was  entitled  to  the  highest  consider 
ation;  that  the  steerage  in  one  sense  was  superior  to 
the  cabin,  as  they  formed  a  valuable  asset  to  the 
nation's  wealth  and  prosperity.  It  was  a  dramatic 
scene  in  the  early  hours  of  the  morn,  and  one  never 
to  be  forgotten. 

A  number  of  tilts  between  Judge  Goldfogle,  Judge 
Sabbath,  and  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  Mr. 


WOODROW   WILSON  415 

Burnett,  took  place.  The  two  former  were  ardent 
supporters  of  the  contention  that  the  literacy  test 
was  unnecessary  and  worked  great  hardship,  while 
Mr.  Burnett  was  in  favor  of  the  bill,  naturally,  being 
the  father  thereof. 

The  outcome  of  the  hearing  is  well  known.  The 
bill  passed  both  Houses  with  all  the  objectionable 
features,  and  when  it  reached  the  White  House, 
President  Wilson,  like  his  predecessors,  Cleveland 
and  Taft,  vetoed  it  on  account  of  the  literacy  test. 
The  House  attempted  to  pass  it  over  the  veto  and 
failed,  not  being  able  to  get  the  constitutional  two- 
thirds  majority. 

In  the  next  session  of  Congress,  however,  the  fight 
was  renewed,  the  bill  passing  both  Houses  and  again 
vetoed  by  the  President,  but  unfortunately  became  a 
law  by  being  passed  over  the  veto. 

After  the  vetoing  of  the  Immigration  Bill,  I  ad 
dressed  the  following  letter  of  thanks  and  congratu 
lation  to  President  Wilson. 

January  29,  1915. 
The  President: 

As  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Delegates  on  Civil 
Rights  of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congrega 
tions,  and  as  resident  representative  of  the  Order  of 
B'nai  B'rith,  I  wish  to  thank  you  most  heartily  for 
the  words  contained  in  your  veto  message  to  Con 
gress  on  the  Immigration  Bill.  They  are  worthy  of 
the  best  traditions  of  the  Republic,  and  express  the 
sentiments,  I  am  sure,  of  the  sane,  patriotic  and  pro 
gressive  element  of  our  people.  Education  confers 
no  superiority,  if  character  is  lacking,  while  on  the 
contrary,  character  is  the  basis  of  good  citizenship. 
As  you  say,  a  large  number  of  immigrants  are  de 
prived  in  their  native  country  of  a  chance  to  educate 
themselves.  My  own  sainted  mother  could  only  read 


416  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

the  Hebrew  Prayer  Book,  and  yet,  I  am  sure  she  was 
in  every  way  worthy  of  the  privileges  and  opportu 
nities  which  she  and  her  children  enjoyed  in  this 
country.  And  so  there  are  thousands  and  thousands 
of  descendants  of  those  who  have  given  the  world 
the  Bible,  the  Psalms,  and  best  literature  of  the  dark 
ages,  who  would  be  deprived  by  the  literacy  test 
from  entering.  So  the  descendants  of  fair  Italy,  the 
heirs  of  the  classic  literature,  art  and  song,  the  de 
fenders  of  liberty,  would  be  deprived,  all  of  which 
would  be  criminal,  and  deprive  the  nation  of  an  asset 
which  it  so  sorely  needs.  But  why  amplify?  You 
undoubtedly  understand  the  whole  situation,  and 
have  grasped  it  in  a  terse,  patriotic  manner. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

And  to  which  he  answered: 

The  White  House,  January  30,  1915. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

The  President  has  read  with  a  great  deal  of  in 
terest  your  kind  letter  of  January  29th,  and  he  asks 
me  to  thank  you  warmly  for  having  written.  He 
genuinely  appreciates  your  generous  expressions  and 
your  good  will. 

Sincerely  yours, 

J.  P.  TUMULTY, 
Secretary  to  the  President. 

The  rights  of  political  asylum  has  never  been  de 
fined  and  outlined  more  exhaustively  and  intelli 
gently  than  that  which  is  contained  in  the  following 
article  by  the  able  publicist,  Mr.  Max  J.  Kohler,  of 
New  York  City,  which  appeared  in  the  New  York 
Post,  May  3,  1916: 


WOODROW  WILSON  417 

"RIGHTS  OF  POLITICAL  ASYLUM  THREATENED. 

Little-Discussed  Amendments  to  the  Immigration  Bill 

Which  Would  Revolutionize  American  Policy 

Toward  Political  Refugees  and 

Domiciled  Aliens. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Evening  Post. 

Sir: — The  Burnett  Immigration  Bill,  as  reported 
by  the  Senate  Committee  after  its  passage  by  the 
House,  contains  several  amendments  of  great  im 
portance.  As  amended  by  the  Senate  Committee,  the 
bill  restricts  the  proviso  of  section  3,  exempting  per 
sons  convicted,  or  who  admit  the  commission,  or 
who  teach  and  advocate  the  commission  "of  an 
offence  purely  political,"  only  if  such  offence  is  not 
a  felony."  Such  reference  to  "felonies,"  with  respect 
to  offences  committed  abroad,  where  (except  in 
Anglo-Saxon  lands)  our  own  distinctions  between 
felony  and  misdemeanor  are  unknown,  is  most  un 
wise  and  confusing  and  uncertain;  but  however  the 
provision  be  construed,  almost  every  offence  to  which 
it  can  apply  would  be  removed  from  the  exemption, 
for  practically  no  other  offences  involve  "moral  tur 
pitude,"  and  only  such  offenders  are  excluded, 
whether  the  act  be  purely  political  or  not. 

It  is  not  very  long  since  our  country  was  agitated 
by  the  effort  to  extradite  Pourento  Russia,  on  the 
charge  of  murder,  through  a  political  offence  com 
mitted  in  the  course  of  a  revolt  against  Russian  des 
potism,  and  our  Government  finally  refused  to  de 
liver  him  up.  Yet  what  would  become  of  our  extra-' 
dition  treaties  if  all  their  restrictions  and  safeguards 
could  thus  be  circumvented  by  such  summary  de 
portation  under  the  immigration  laws.  Still  more 
recently  in  the  Castro  case  (involving  alleged  mur 
der,  resulting  from  ordering  an  insurrection  stopped) 
(203  Fed.  Rep.  155),  and  the  Mylius  case  (criminal 
libel  of  the  King  of  England)  (203  Fed.  Rep.  152, 
affirmed  210  Fed.  Rep.  860),  the  courts  were  called 
upon  to  protect  political  refugees  against  arbitrary 


418  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

and  unjustified  administrative  deportation  under  the 
immigration  laws,  yet  what  would  become  of  the 
restrictions  there  recognized  by  the  courts,  under 
this  new  legislative  abolition  of  the  right  of  asylum 
for  such  political  refugees,  President  Wilson's  em 
phatic  language,  based  upon  a  true  appreciation  of 
our  history,  would  be  a  hundred  times  more  appli 
cable  to  the  new  bill: 

It  seeks  to  all  but  close  entirely  the  gates  of  asylum 
which  have  always  been  open  to  those  who  could 
find  nowhere  else  the  right  and  opportunity  of  con 
stitutional  agitation  for  what  they  conceived  to  be 
the  natural  and  inalienable  rights  of  men,  *  *  * 
a  radical  departure  from  the  traditional  and  long- 
established  policy  of  this  country,  a  policy  in  which 
our  people  have  conceived  the  very  character  of 
their  Government  to  be  expressed,  the  very  mission 
and  spirit  of  the  nation  in  respect  of  its  relations  to 
the  peoples  of  the  world  outside  their  borders  *  *  * 
The  right  of  political  asylum  has  brought  to  this 
country  many  a  man  of  noble  character  and  elevated 
purpose  who  was  marked  as  an  outlaw  in  his  own 
less  fortunate  land,-  and  who  has  yet  become  an  orna 
ment  to  our  citizenship  and  to  our  political  councils. 

But  all  sorts  of  difficult  and  confusing  questions 
of  law  would  also  arise,  which  the  petty  administra 
tive  officers,  having  no  legal  knowledge,  would  be 
wholly  incapable  of  deciding  properly,  and  which 
probably  only  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  can  ultimately  unravel.  Our  existing  immi 
gration  law  excludes  all  persons  who  have  commit 
ted  crimes  involving  moral  turpitude,  whether  they 
be  felony  or  misdemeanor,  unless  they  be  purely 
political  offences,  so  there  has  been  no  occasion  thus 
far  to  inquire  into  the  question  whether  the  offences 
be  felonies  or  misdemeanors  and  whether  the  dis 
tinction  is  to  be  gauged  by  the  provisions  of  the  for 
eign  country's  law  (if  it  makes  it),  or  our  Federal 
Penal  Code  provision  (Sec.  335),  or  the  law  of  the 
particular  State  in  which  admission  is  applied  for,  or 


WOODROW  WILSON  419 

that  of  the  State  in  which  the  immigrant  is  destined. 
Even  the  existing  statute  was  shown  in  the  Mylius 
case  to  be  most  confusing  and  uncertain  in  its  pro 
vision  as  to  "moral  turpitude,"  both  District  Court 
and  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  reversing  the  Board  of 
Special  Inquiry  and  Secretary  Nagel  on  this  point  of 
law.  But  ever  so  much  more  troublesome  questions 
would  arise  if  the  "felony"  test  must  also  be  taken 
into  account,  and  particularly  if  the  lay  inspectors 
must  suddenly  become  experts  in  the  criminal  law 
of  every  country  from  which  the  immigrants  come. 

Strong  reasons  suggest  themselves  for  assuming 
that  the  question  whether  the  offence  be  a  felony  or 
not  is  to  be  determined  by  the  provisions  of  the  law 
where  it  was  committed.  Such  would  seem  to  be  the 
theory  of  the  Castro  decision,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  hereto  pointed  out,  few  foreign  countries  establish 
our  particular  distinctions  between  "felony"  and 
"misdemeanor,"  and  it  would  seem  unreasonable  to 
ascribe  to  lay  immigration  officials  knowledge  of  the 
criminal  laws  of  all  the  foreign  countries  involved, 
and  this  would  be  a  construction  of  our  laws  which 
the  courts  would  not  favor. 

The  alternative  would  be  very  difficult  and  trou 
blesome  also,  however — an  investigation  into  the 
character  of  the  offence  under  the  foreign  law,  and 
the  application  to  the  same  of  our  own  varying  and 
confusing  tests  as  to  the  distinctions  between  felonies 
and  misdemeanors.  These  definitions  or  tests  vary 
in  the  different  States,  and  the  Federal  Penal  Code 
provision  is  still  different.  Originally,  the  more  seri 
ous  offences,  roughly  speaking,  were  felonies,  but 
different  laws  arbitrarily  made  certain  acts  felonies, 
or  misdemeanors,  as  the  case  might  be,  involving 
much  confusion  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  common 
law  and  each  State  even. 

Should  the  distinctions  existing  in  the  State  where 
the  immigrant  lands  be  adopted  regardless  of  his 
destination?  If  so,  he  would  be  admissible  in  one 
State,  but  not  in  another,  and  after  landing,  could 


420  THE   PRESIDENTS    I    HAVE    KNOWN 

go  wherever  he  pleased.  If  his  assumed  destination 
is  the  test  he  could  assign  one  favorable  to  him,  and 
nevertheless  go  wherever  he  wanted  to,  after  admis 
sion.  Moreover,  such  consideration  of  local  State 
conditions  on  application  to  enter  the  United  States 
seems  inconsistent  with  the  policy  ably  laid  down  by 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  the  recent  case 
of  Gegiow  vs.  Uhl.  The  alternative  would  seem  to 
be  the  application  of  the  Federal  Criminal  Code  pro 
vision  (Sec.  335),  defining  as  a  felony  an  offence  pun 
ishable  by  death,  or  imprisonment  of  over  one  year, 
but  that,  in  practice,  would  cover  almost  every 
offence  involving  moral  turpitude,  political  or  not, 
and  would  practically  expunge  the  political  offence 
exemption  entirely. 

Another  serious  change  made  by  the  Senate  Com 
mittee  is  the  omission  of  the  House  provision,  per 
mitting  aliens  who  have  declared  their  intention  to 
become  citizens  to  re-enter,  in  the  discretion  of  the 
Secretary,  despite  other  possible  disqualifications. 
Many  years  ago,  even  under  the  Chinese  exclusion 
laws,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  recognized 
that  unmistakable  language  in  a  law  must  be  present 
to  cut  off  the  right  of  return  of  aliens  domiciled  here, 
recognized  by  international  law,  and  this  principle 
was  subsequently  applied,  even  to  the  wives  and 
children  of  domiciled  aliens.  Surely,  formal  and 
solemn  declarations  of  intention  to  become  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States  is  most  cogent  evidence  of  ac 
quisition  of  a  permanent  domicile  here,  and  will 
often  involve  serious  liabilities  under  the  laws  of  the 
country  of  original  citizenship,  if  United  States  pro 
tection  is  thus  cut  off.  Yet  even  discretionary  power 
in  the  Secretary  to  admit  them  is  cut  off.  This  pro 
vision  becomes  all  the  more  serious,  because  this  bill 
established  a  new  and  revolutionary  definition  of 
"alien"  under  the  Immigration  Law  to  include  only 
native-born  or  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  This  will  result  in  harsh  and  heart-rending 
separation  of  families.  It  will  exclude  wives,  though 


WOODROW   WILSON  421 

their  husbands  are  here  and  are  citizens,  whose  citi 
zenship,  except  as  to  Chinese,  has  been  heretofore 
recognized  as  resulting  from  the  husband's.  It  will 
exclude  minor  children  of  citizens,  not  only  on  an 
original  entry,  but  even  afterwards  though  Secretary 
Nagel,  in  an  able  opinion,  upheld  their  right,  even  in 
the  first-named  contingency,  to  enter,  in  order  to 
avoid  heartless  breaking  up  of  families.  Such  ex 
clusion  of  wives  and  infant  children  may  take  place 
on  the  flimsy  and  irrelevant  reason  that  they  may 
have  some  petty,  insignificant  "defect  that  may  affect 
their  ability  to  earn  a  living" — may,  however,  im 
probably — and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  hus 
band  or  father  may  be  so  well  off  that  there  is  no 
reasonable  probability  that  the  wife,  for  instance, 
will  ever  be  called  upon  to  earn  her  livelihood.  This 
change  is  all  the  more  remarkable,  because  the  Sen-, 
ate,  a  few  years  ago,  amended  a  House  Immigration 
Bill  by  expressly  providing  that  the  wives  and  minor 
children  of  citizens  should  be  regarded  as  admissible 
and  an  appropriate  exception  might  be  made,  if  ad 
visable,  of  such  as  suffer  from  loathsome  and  con 
tagious  diseases,  for  instance.  It  is  obvious  that  these 
provisions  are  very  ill-advised,  and  have  been 
adopted  without  careful  consideration  of  the  conse 
quences. 

MAX  J.  KOHLER." 
New  York,  April  29,  1916. 

Some  of  the  most  dramatic  incidents  in  connection 
with  the  landing  of  refugees,  the  future  Americans, 
transpired  time  and  again,  not  only  in  this  Adminis 
tration,  but  during  many  years  prior.  On  several 
occasions  people  who  had  been  ordered  deported, 
and  for  whom  at  the  last  moment  I  had  secured  ad 
mission,  were  taken  off  the  steamers  sailing  down 
the  bay.  The  joy  and  happiness  of  the  out-going 
immigrant,  rescued,  can  never  be  told  in  cold  type, 


422  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

but  their  letters  of  thanks  and  their  personal  expres 
sions,  have  been  more  than  compensation. 

The  question  of  securing  the  assurance  of  our 
Government  that  it  would  use  its  good  offices  to  bring 
about  a  recognition  on  the  lines  of  equality  and  lib 
erality  for  the  Jews  in  those  countries  where  it  had 
been  denied  them  is  evidenced  by  the  following  cor 
respondence  between  President  Wilson  and  myself: 

February  9,  1915. 
To  the  President, 

Washington,  D.  G. 

As  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Delegates  of  the 
Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations,  and  as 
resident  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
International  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  I  beg  to  present 
to  you  the  wishes  of  your  fellow  citizens  of  Jewish 
faith,  who  are,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  patriotic 
and  loyal  Americans,  and  therefore  are  deeply  con 
cerned  in  the  outcome  of  the  present  war  when 
terms  of  peace  shall  be  determined  on.  You  are  well 
aware  of  the  conditions  of  our  co-religionists  in  cer 
tain  parts  of  Europe;  that  for  centuries  in  those 
countries  they  have  been  denied  equal  rights,  either 
political  or  religious,  in  consequence  of  which  a  large 
number  have  sought  refuge  in  this  land  of  opportu 
nity,  and  that  unless  our  Gpvernment  can  be  instru 
mental  in  securing  those  rights,  to  the  enjoyment  of 
which  they  have  so  far  been  denied,  the  influx  of 
such  refugees  from  the  lands  of  oppression  will  not 
only  continue,  but  be  largely  increased. 

John  Hay,  when  Secretary  of  State,  made  this  prop 
osition  very  clear  in  his  famous  Roumanian  note. 
He  regarded  the  persecution  of  the  Jews  as  an  act  of 
hostility  to  the  United  States,  as  it  brought  to  our 
shores  immigrants  that  would  have  remained  in  the 
land  of  their  birth,  were  they  treated  in  a  spirit  of 
fairness  and  justice. 


WOODROW  WILSON  423 

We  do  not  believe  that  at  any  time  in  the  world's 
history  has  the  time  been  so  opportune  to  secure 
equal  rights  for  the  Jews  in  Europe  as  at  the  time 
when  terms  of  peace  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  the  bel 
ligerent  powers.  The  United  States  Government  has 
a  vantage  ground  equaled  by  none;  one  that  can,  I 
am  sure,  through  your  wise  and  sane  statesmanship, 
become  a  dominating  factor  in  the  solution  of  this 
great  and  important  question.  It  will  not  only  be 
conducive  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  people 
in  question,  but  aid  very  materially  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  and  we,  therefore,  most  respect 
fully  but  earnestly  suggest  that  you  give  this  great 
international  problem  due  consideration  to  the  end 
of  securing  justice. 

With  sincere  regards,  I  have  the  honor,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  to  subscribe  myself. 

Your  very  obedient  servant  and  fellow  citizen. 

SIMON  WOLF. 


The  White  House, 

Washington,  April  7,  1915. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  read  with  the  greatest  interest  the  letter  you  were 
kind  enough  to  leave  with  me  a  short  time  ago  bear 
ing  the  signatures  of  representatives  of  the  Order  of 
B'nai  B'rith  and  the  Hebrew  Congregations  of  the 
United  States.  I  beg  that  you  will  assure  those  who 
were  kind  enough  to  send  me  this  interesting  letter 
that  I  follow  from  time  to  time  with  the  greatest  in 
terest  the  fine  work  of  the  organizations  which  they 
represent,  work  which  undoubtedly  contributes  to  the 
uplift  and  betterment  of  the  nation,  and  I  have  been 
particularly  interested  in  the  work  of  education  and 
philanthropy  and  the  effort  to  destroy  so  far  as  they 
can  the  provincialism  of  prejudice  as  between  races. 

Will  you  not  be  kind  enough  to  convey  to  them  my 
warm  appreciation  of  their  letter  and  my  assurance 
that  whenever  and  in  whatever  way  it  may  be  possi- 


424  THE   PRESIDENTS    I   HAVE   KNOWN 

ble  for  me  to  serve  the  interests  which  they  repre 
sent,  I  shall  conceive  it  a  privilege  to  do  so? 
Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  C. 

In  addition  thereto,  to  be  assured  of  the  status  on 
the  part  of  our  Government,  in  concluding  a  new 
treaty  with  Russia,  the  following  correspondence 
took  place,  which  evidences  that  I  have  been  watch 
ful  and  vigilant  in  securing  those  rights  to  which  the 
Jew  as  a  man  and  citizen  is  entitled: 

April  8,  1915. 
To  the  President : 

The  newspapers  have  recently  and  again  today, 
made  statements  that  our  Government  was  about  re 
newing  the  treaty  with  Russia.  You  are  well  aware 
that  the  treaty  of  1832,  between  the  United  States 
and  Russia,  existed  for  eighty  years,  when  by  almost 
unanimous  voice  of  the  American  people,  it  was 
abrogated  under  the  administration  of  your  imme 
diate  predecessor.  The  cause  of  said  abrogation 
was  brought  about  by  the  nonrecognition  of  the 
American  passport  by  Russia,  when  in  the  hands  of 
an  American  citizen,  Russia  contending  that  under 
their  police  regulations  they  had  the  right  of  preclud 
ing  the  domicile  and  sojourn  of  all  persons  seeking 
admission  into  Russia,  especially  those  who  had  been 
born  in  that  country  and  naturalized  in  the  United 
States.  Our  contention  was  and  is  that,  whether  born 
or  naturalized  in  this  country,  American  citizens  are 
entitled  to  equal  rights  and  privileges.  Therefore, 
I  sincerely  hope  that  any  treaty  to  be  concluded  with 
Russia  shall  have  the  important  clause  of  travel  and 
sojourn  in  Russia  by  any  American  citizen  irrespec 
tive  of  nationality  or  creed.  Any  neglect  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  to  recognize  this  important 
factor  of  American  citizenship  would,  I  am  sure,  be 


WOODROW   WILSON  425 

resented  by  the  same  overwhelming  majority  that 
led  to  the  abrogation  of  the  former  treaty. 

In  bringing  this  matter  to  your  attention,  I  am  not 
voicing  the  opinions  of  American  citizens  of  Jewish 
faith  alone,  although  they  are  mostly  concerned,  but 
principally  as  an  American  citizen  looking  to  the 
future  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  republic,  and 
recognizing  the  all-important  fact  that,  unless  Russia 
enters  the  domain  of  civilization  by  recognizing  all 
men  as  equals,  that  the  principal  sufferer  by  pursu 
ing  her  course  would  be  the  United  States,  owing  to 
a  continued  abnormal  and  unnatural  immigration, 
and  as  a  patriotic  American,  I  trust  that  whatever 
treaty  shall  be  concluded  with  Russia,  shall  embrace 
the  important  paragraph,  the  absence  of  which  led 
to  the  abrogation  of  the  former  treaty. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

The  White  House, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  April  12,  1915. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  your  letter  of  April  8th.    You  may  be  sure 
that  when  we  negotiate  a  new  treaty  with  Russia  we 
shall  not  be  forgetful  of  the  very  important  matter 
to  which  you  call  my  attention. 
Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf,  Washington,  D.  C. 

In  connection  with  the  question  of  our  co-religion 
ists  in  Russia  and  Roumania,  I  take  the  liberty  of 
quoting  an  excerpt  from  the  book  entitled  "The  Doc 
trine  of  Intervention,"  written  by  Mr.  Henry  G. 
Hodges,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Coming 
from  a  distinguished  Christian  student  of  the  ques 
tion,  his  discussion  of  "Intervention  in  the  Interest 
of  Persecuted  Jews"  (pp.  92-96),  is  particularly  signi 
ficant.  He  says: 


426  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

The  case  of  an  intervention  in  the  interest  of  per 
secuted  Jews  presents  several  distinct  peculiarities. 
In  the  first  place,  the  race  has  no  direct  protecting 
governmental  authority.  In  the  second  place,  due  to 
their  scattered  condition,  they  are  unable  to  unite  in 
sufficient  numbers  for  their  own  adequate  protec 
tion.  These  two  facts  are  sufficient  to  explain  the 
peculiarity  of  the  present  situation  of  the  Jews  in 
Roumania. 

At  the  Berlin  Conference  in  1878,  the  Powers 
agreed  to  recognize  the  Balkan  States  on  the  condi 
tion  that  they  should  not  impose  any  religious  dis 
abilities  on  their  subjects.  This  was  the  spirit  and 
letter  of  Article  44  of  that  Agreement.  Recognition 
was  granted  with  the  understanding  that  this  stipu 
lation  would  be  fulfilled.  Hence  it  follows  from  the 
spirit  of  Article  44  that  should  this  article  be  vio 
lated,  the  Powers  signing  that  agreement  had  the 
right,  and  even  more  the  duty,  of  intervention.  Nev 
ertheless,  in  accordance  with  the  municipal  law  in 
Roumania,  the  Jews  are,  with  a  few  exceptions,  con 
sidered  as  foreigners  so  that  they  may  not  come  un 
der  the  provisions  of  the  article  just  mentioned.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  authorities  argue  that  since  these 
Jews  are  not  subjects  of  any  other  State,  Roumania 
may  compel  them  to  render  military  service.  The 
authorities  treat  them,  in  respect  to  many  other  mat 
ters,  as  their  discretion  may  direct.  It  would  seem 
that  the  parties  to  this  Berlin  Conference  are  lax  in 
the  fulfillment  of  their  obligations  so  long  as  they 
allow  such  actions  to  continue.  For  them  interven 
tion  for  the  correction  of  the  present  anomalous  con 
dition  of  the  Roumanian  Jew,  is  legally  justifiable. 
For  other  States  the  cause  is  very  weak.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  the  so-called  rights  of  mankind  are 
not  absolutely  assured. 

If  Oppenheimer's  history  of  the  development  of 
the  mutual  ascendancy  of  the  Christian  religion  and 
the  principles  of  international  law  is  a  true  one,  it  is 
hard  to  see  upon  what  grounds  an  intervention  for 


WOODROW   WILSON  427 

the  suppression  of  such  conditions  as  exist  in  Rou- 
mania  in  respect  to  the  Jewish  population  can  be 
denied. 

The  development  of  the  "hands  off"  policy  is  nulli 
fying  sympathy  in  a  similar  case,  where  no  agree 
ment  exists  to  justify  an  intervention.  The  case  of 
the  Jews  in  Russia  is  known  to  the  civilized  world. 
The  reports  can  not  all  be  false.  The  condition  of 
these  people  arouses  pity,  but  although  deplorable 
conditions  exist  there,  they  are  not  existing  in  viola 
tion  of  any  international  agreement.  The  Jews  in 
Roumania  have  a  much  stronger  case  than  the  Jews 
in  Russia,  but  the  only  legitimate  authority  for  tak 
ing  up  their  cause  from  a  strictly  legal  standpoint 
has  failed  to  act. 

One  of  the  strongest  views  in  opposition  to  an  in 
tervention  based  on  religious  oppression  is  expressed 
by  Hall,  from  whose  writings  Oppenheimer  says 
many  of  his  opinions  are  formed.  Evidently  this 
opinion  came  from  a  different  source.  There  are 
several  writers  who  maintain  that  the  Law  of  Na 
tions  guarantees  to  every  individual,  wherever  he 
might  be,  the  so-called  rights  of  mankind,  no  matter 
what  may  be  his  status;  that  is,  even  though  he  may 
be  stateless.  Among  these  writers  are  Rluntschli, 
de  Martens,  Ronfils  and  others. 

We  may  conclude  that,  although  the  opinions  of 
the  writers  just  mentioned  can  hardly  be  said  to  ob 
tain  at  the  present  time,  nevertheless  there  is  a  ten 
dency  to  depart  from  that  very  strict  construction 
given  to  the  principle  by  Hall.  As  in  the  case  of  hu 
manity,  it  seems  that  the  tendency  of  an  ever-increas 
ing  pressure  of  public  opinion,  combined  with  a  more 
universal  demand  for  justice,  is  to  push  the  claim  for 
legality  of  this  cause  ever  nearer  that  point  where 
it  will  be  recognized  by  the  majority.  Religious 
toleration  will  be  one  of  the  accomplishments  of  an 
advanced  international  community  just  as  surely  as 
it  is  of  the  more  enlightened  States  of  the  present 
time. 


428  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

On  the  occasion  of  the  quinquennial  Convention 
of  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  held  in  San 
Francisco,  California,  in  May,  1915,  which  Conven 
tion  I  am  happy  to  state  I  was  enabled  to  attend  as 
a  delegate,  I  had  received  the  following  letters,  to  be 
read  to  those  assembled  as  a  mark  of  good-will  and 
friendship  on  the  part  of  those  whose  signatures  are 
affixed  to  each  message: 

The  letter  from  President  Wilson,  dated  April  7, 
1915,  and  read  at  the  Convention,  has  already  been 
quoted  in  this  sketch. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  April  3,  1915. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Woodward  Building, 

Washington. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  am  just  in  receipt  of  your  letter  saying  that  you 
expect  to  attend  the  quinquennial  convention  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith  to  be  held  in  San 
Francisco  in  the  near  future  and  suggesting  that  you 
will  be  glad  to  carry  a  message  of  greeting  and  good 
will. 

I  am,  of  course,  acquainted  with  this  great  inter 
national  organization  and  profoundly  appreciate  the 
large  work  which  ft  has  done  in  the  matter  of  edu 
cation  and  social  uplift.  Please  present  to  the  mem 
bers  in  most  cordial  language  my  compliments  and 
good  wishes,  and  accept  for  yourself  my  thanks  for 
giving  me  this  opportunity  to  give  expression  to  the 
interest  which  I  feel  in  the  work  that  the  Order  has 
done  and  in  the  still  larger  work  before  it  in  propa 
gating  peace  and  good-will  throughout  the  world. 

Yours  very  truly, 

W.  J.  BRYAN. 


WOODROW   WILSON  429 

Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island,  N.  Y., 

April  10th,  1915. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Through  you  permit  me  to  extend  my  hearty  good 
wishes  to  the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith 
and  to  wish  it  all  success  in  continuing  its  work  in 
strengthening  the  ties  between  man  and  man  and 
endeavoring  to  contribute  to  the  uplift  and  better 
ment  of  humanity.  It  has  been  a  great  educational 
and  enlightening  factor  in  our  American  life. 
With  hearty  good  wishes, 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 
Simon  Wolf,  Esq., 

Woodward  Building, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  April  1st,  1915. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  yours  of  March  30th.  I  am  glad  that  you 
are  going  to  attend  the  quinquennial  convention  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  which  will 
meet  in  San  Francisco  sometime  during  April.  I 
have  great  respect  for  the  Order  because  of  the  good 
which  it  has  done,  the  conservative  attitude  which  it 
has  occupied,  the  harmonizing  effect  which  it  has 
had  upon  otherwise  discordant  elements,  and  the 
general  world  fraternity  which  it  has  promoted.  It 
is  a  body  of  representative  American  citizens  that 
deserves  the  approval  and  encouragement  of  all  their 
fellow  citizens.  I  sincerely  hope  that  the  convention 
will  be  full  of  usefulness,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
enjoyment  for  the  members  of  the  Order,  on  the 
other. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 
Honorable  Simon  Wolf, 
Woodward  Building, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


430  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Western  Union  Day  Letter. 

Chicago,  111.,  April  24,  1915. 

9  a.m. 

Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
St.  Francis  Hotel, 

San  Francisco,  Gal. 

Permit  me  to  express  my  best  wishes  for  the  suc 
cess  of  the  great  charitable  and  educational  work  of 
your  organization,  at  no  time  in  our  history  has  there 
been  more  need  for  enlightened  toleration  or  better 
reason  for  taking  account  of  the  real  contributors  to 
our  country's  welfare.  I  am  happy  to  know  that  you 
were  able  to  attend  the  meeting  and  I  trust  that  Cali 
fornia  may  bestow  upon  you  health-giving  warmth 
and  cheer,  as  you  dispense  good-will  and  comfort 
among  your  fellowmen. 

CHAS.  NAGEL. 

Honorable  Simon  Wolf, 
Woodward  Building, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

May  I,  on  the  part  of  the  American  Red  Cross,  ex 
tend  warm  greetings  to  the  Independent  Order  of 
B'nai  B'rith  at  its  quinquennial  convention.  It  was 
a  pleasure  some  five  years  ago  to  address  this  repre 
sentative  body  of  Jewish  men  here  in  Washington. 
Since  then  we  have  received  continuous  support  and 
sympathetic  interest  and  aid  from  the  Jewish  people 
in  America,  and  we  desire  to  express  our  very  sin 
cere  thanks  and  gratitude  for  their  assistance.  There 
is  no  greater  humanitarian  organization  in  the  world 
than  the  Red  Cross.  It  knows  neither  race  nor  creed, 
but  unites  all  mankind  in  the  bond  of  brotherhood. 

Though  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  American 
Red  Cross  realizing  that  the  work  for  the  sick  and 
wounded  would  take  all  its  time,  funds  and  energy, 
decided  not  to  undertake  non-combatant  relief  work, 
some  funds  have  been  received  to  aid  these  non- 
combatants  and  the  Committee  was  glad  from  this 


WOODROW  WILSON  431 

small  amount  to  appropriate  $10,000  for  the  Jewish 
Committee  that  is  sending  relief  to  Palestine.  It  has 
also  been  of  assistance  in  sending  boxes  of  supplies 
through  for  the  relief  of  the  Jewish  people  in  Aus 
tria,  Poland  and  Galicia. 

Again  with  most  hearty  appreciation  and  gratitude 
for  the  aid  of  the  Jewish  people  in  the  great  humani 
tarian  work  of  the  Red  Gross,  and  asking  for  their 
continued  assistance  and  interest,  I  am, 
Yours  sincerely, 

MABEL  T.  BOARDMAN. 

The  matter  of  shipping  whole  wheat  by  and 
through  the  consent  of  the  Allies,  to  be  used  during 
Passover  by  our  suffering  brethren  abroad  due  to  the 
terrible  and  prolonged  war,  having  been  brought  to 
my  attention,  I  addressed  President  Wilson  to  the 
following  effect: 

January  5,  1916. 
To  the  President: 

I  had  the  honor  of  informing  you  the  other  day 
that  we  are  contemplating  having  a  mass  meeting  on 
the  evening  of  the  twentieth,  in  aid  of  the  Jewish 
War  Sufferers,  and  at  the  same  time  to  bring  home 
to  official  Washington  the  fearful  condition  of  my 
co-religionists. 

One  of  the  main  objects  outside  of  the  collection  of 
money  is  to  secure  the  good  offices  of  our  Govern 
ment  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  permission  of  the 
Allies  to  ship  several  cargoes  of  whole  wheat  so  that 
at  the  coming  Passover  it  can  be  used  to  make  un 
leavened  bread.  There  are  thousands  of  Orthodox 
Jews  \vho  would  starve  during  the  period  of  eight 
days  if  they  could  not  have  this  unleavened  bread. 
In  itself  it  may  be  termed  a  trifling  affair,  but  to  those 
concerned,  it  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death. 

Will  you  instruct  the  State  Department  to  take  up 
this  matter  to  the  end  of  securing  the  permission? 
As  ever,  sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 


432  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

To  which  he  made  the  following  reply: 

January  6,  1916. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  your  letter  of  January  fifth  and  will  be  very 

pleased  to  take  up  the  matter  you  refer  to  with  the 

State  Department  to  ascertain  if  it  is  possible  to  do 

anything.     Of  course,  we  will  do  it  if  it  is  possible. 

In  haste, 

Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  G. 

Letters  received  from  my  friend  Alvey  A.  Adee,  in 
regard  to  the  same  matter,  are  also  given  herein  and 
fully  explain  themselves: 

Department  of  State, 

January  8,  1916. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  G. 
Sir: 

The  Department  acknowledges  the  receipt,  by  ref 
erence  from  the  President,  of  your  letter  of  January 
fifth,  requesting  the  President  to  instruct  the  Depart 
ment  to  use  its  good  offices  for  the  purpose  of  obtain 
ing  permission  from  the  Allies  to  ship  several  car 
goes  of  whole  wheat  so  that  at  the  coming  Passover 
it  can  be  used  to  make  unleavened  bread. 

Before  complying  with  your  request,  the  Depart 
ment  begs  to  request  you  to  inform  it  how  much 
wheat  you  desire  to  ship,  to  what  places,  to  whom  it 
is  to  be  consigned,  and  how  it  is  to  be  distributed,  as 
these  questions  are  certain  to  be  asked  of  the  De 
partment  by  the  governments  from  whom  the  per 
mission  to  ship  the  wheat  is  requested. 
I  am,  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

For  Secretary  of  State: 
ALVEY  A.  ADEE, 
Second  Assistant  Secretary. 


WOODROW  WILSON  433 

And  later  the  following  letter  was  received : 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  February  19,  1916. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Sir: 

With  further  reference  to  your  letter  of  January 
fifth,  to  the  President,  requesting  him  to  instruct  the 
Department  to  use  its  good  offices  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  permission  from  the  Allies  to  ship  several 
cargoes  of  whole  wheat  so  that  at  the  coming  Pass 
over  it  can  be  used  to  make  unleavened  bread,  there 
is  quoted  herewith  a  copy  of  a  telegram,  dated  Feb 
ruary  14,  1916,  from  the  American  Embassy  at  Lon 
don,  indicating  the  attitude  of  Great  Britain  toward 
the  shipment  of  whole  wheat  at  this  time. 

"British  Government  has  just  answered  my  repre 
sentation  made  under  your  instruction  to  effect  that 
they  had  already  received  a  request  to  authorize  the 
export  of  such  bread  from  Holland,  and  that  after 
careful  consideration,  it  was  decided  reluctantly  that 
it  must  be  refused  as  far  as  consignments  to  Ger 
many  and  Austria  and  the  territories  occupied  by 
their  armed  forces  were  concerned. 

"British  Government  adds  that  from  official  and 
public  statements  made  from  time  to  time,  by  or  on 
behalf  of  German  Government,  it  appears  that  sup 
ply  of  flour  at  present  in  Germany,  is  amply  suffi 
cient  to  furnish  pure  flour  when  required  for  special 
purposes.  It  is  therefore  opinion  of  British  Govern 
ment  that  application  should  be  made  to  German  and 
Austrian  Governments  to  allow  distribution  to  their 
Jewish  subjects  of  such  quantities  of  pure  flour  as 
may  be  necessary  to  satisfy  their  religious  require 
ments." 

I  am,  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

For  Secretary  of  State, 

WILLIAM  PHILLIPS, 
Third  Assistant  Secretary. 


434  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

A  statement  having  been  made  by  certain  parties 
in  New  York  City,  that  they  had  received  authorita 
tive  advices  that  an  outbreak  had  recently  been  made 
against  the  Jews  of  Russia,  I  was  impelled  to  address 
the  State  Department  in  the  following  manner: 

April  29,  1916. 
Hon.  Robert  Lansing, 
Secretary  of  State, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

My  co-religionists  all  over  the  country  are  very 
much  excited  and  worried  about  a  statement  made, 
which  is  claimed  to  be  from  an  authoritative  source 
that  there  is  to  be  an  outbreak  against  the  Jews  of 
Russia  at  the  coming  Russian  Easter.  It  is  scarcely 
conceivable  that  such  a  crime  should  be  committed 
at  any  time,  but  particularly  at  this  juncture  when 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  Russians  of  Jewish  faith 
are  battling  for  the  land  of  their  birth,  or  at  least 
not  shirking  the  duty  they  owe  to  the  State,  notwith 
standing  the  horrible  outrages  and  persecutions  to 
which  they  have  been  subjected. 

I,  therefore,  would  take  it  as  a  great  personal  fa 
vor,  not  only  for  my  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of 
millions  of  our  people,  if  you  could  secure  some  re 
liable  information  from  our  Embassy  at  St.  Peters 
burg,  as  to  the  reliability  of  such  statement  or  the 
probability  of  any  such  outrages. 

Whatever  reply  you  may  make  to  me  will  be 
strictly  confidential,  unless  it  should  be  of  such  a 
character  that  you  of  your  own  accord  will  permit 
its  publication. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

And  received  from  Secretary  Lansing  the  follow 
ing  satisfactory  and  courteous  answer: 


WOODROW   WILSON  435 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  May  4,  1916. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  private  and  confidential 
letter  of  April  29,  1916,  requesting  information  as  to 
the  authenticity  of  a  report  that  there  is  to  be  an  out 
break  against  the  Jews  of  Russia  at  the  coming  of 
the  Russian  Easter. 

The  Department  has  cabled  the  Embassy  at  Petro- 
grad  making  inquiry  in  the  matter. 
I  am,  my  dear  Mr.  Wolf, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

ROBERT  LANSING. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

And  later,  Mr.  Adee  addressed  me,  giving  absolute 
assurance  that  no  such  outbreaks  had  taken  place, 
and  that  the  Russian  Easter  had  passed  without  *nci- 
dent.  His  letter  is  given  below  in  full : 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  May  12,  1916. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Sir: 

In  further  reply  to  your  letter  of  April  29th,  in  ref 
erence  to  the  reported  threatened  danger  to  Jews  in 
Russia  at  the  then  approaching  Russian  Easter,  the 
Department  begs  to  inform  you  that  it  is  in  receipt 
of  a  telegram,  dated  May  llth,  from  the  American 
Ambassador  at  Petrograd,  stating  that  the  Russian 
Easter  has  passed  without  incident. 
I  am,  sir, 

Your  obedent  servant, 

For  the  Secretary  of  State: 
ALVEY  A.  ADEE, 
Second  Assistant  Secretary. 


436  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Many  letters,  and  even  telegrams  having  been  re 
ceived,  asking  whether  our  Government  was  making 
a  treaty  with  Russia,  I  again  addressed  the  President 
on  the  subject,  as  is  shown  by  the  following: 

May  25,  1916. 
To  the  President: 

I  had  the  honor  on  February  9,  1915,  of  addressing 
you  a  letter,  to  which  you  replied  on  April  7,  1917, 
copies  of  which  I  herewith  enclose. 

Since  that  date  various  groups  of  American  citi 
zens  of  Jewish  faith  have  been  much  concerned  as  to 
what  attitude  our  Government  will  take  in  securing 
equal  rights  for  their  co-religionists  in  every  part  of 
the  world,  especially  in  Russia  and  Roumania.  In 
the  present  European  conditions,  it  is  hard  to  prog 
nosticate  or  conclude  as  to  what  may  or  may  not  be 
done  when  the  belligerents  shall  have  concluded  on 
terms  of  peace,  but  when  that  hour  comes,  we  wish 
to  be  assured  on  the  part  of  our  great  Government, 
so  far  as  the  Executive  can  promise,  that  every  means 
consistent  with  diplomacy  and  with  the  demands  of 
humanity,  shall  be  exercised  to  secure  those  rights 
which  are  inherent  in  every  human  being,  and  which 
when  conceded  by  all  Nations,  will  strengthen  the 
kinship,  no  matter  what  the  nationality  or  creed  may 
be,  and  materially  contribute  to  solve  a  great  prob 
lem,  coincident  with  the  prosperity  and  development 
of  the  United  States. 

Is  it  asking  too  much,  my  dear  Mr.  President,  for 
you  to  express  yourself  as  far  as  is  consistent  and 
proper  at  this  juncture,  that  your  determination  to 
do  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time  has  not  changed; 
on  the  contrary,  has  been  accentuated  by  the  present 
conditions  and  by  the  ultimate  prospects  of  universal 
peace? 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

To  which  he  replied: 


WOODROW   WILSON  437 

The  White  House, 

Washington,  May  29,  1916. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  have  your  letter  of  May  twenty-fifth.  I  hope  that 
it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  state  again  my  determi 
nation  to  do  the  right  and  possible  thing  at  the  right 
and  feasible  time  with  regard  to  the  great  interests 
you  so  eloquently  allude  to  in  your  letter. 

Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

This  letter  of  President  Wilson  should  have  been 
conclusive  as  to  the  attitude  of  our  Government 
when  the  terms  of  a  world  peace  are  to  be  agreed 
on,  and  made  from  every  practical  standpoint,  a 
Jewish  Congress  for  the  time  being,  at  least,  unnec 
essary. 

At  the  close  of  President  Wilson's  first  adminis 
tration  and  during  the  campaign  for  his  re-election, 
in  answer  to  the  claim  that  there  was  a  Jewish  vote 
politically,  and  to  refute  this  hydra-headed  monster 
preying  upon  the  intelligence  and  integrity  of  Amer 
ican  citizens  of  Jewish  faith,  the  following  article 
was  prepared  by  me,  which  has  been  received  with 
favor  everywhere,  irrespective  of  party,  creed  or  na 
tionality,  and  I  feel  that  it  is  quite  appropriate  to  in 
corporate  it  in  this  sketch,  if  for  no  other  reason 
than  to  preserve  the  same  for  future  reference: 

THERE  is  No  JEWISH  VOTE. 

For  sixty  years  I  have  been  in  direct  opposition 
to  any  subject  that  would  favor  me  so-called  idea 
of  a  separate  vote.  I  have  refused  time  and  again 
to  speak  before  any  Jewish  audience,  as  such,  in 


438  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

favor  of  one  or  the  other  candidates,  either  local  or 
national.  It  goes  without  saying  that  as  an  Ameri 
can  citizen,  irrespective  of  nationality  or  creed,  I 
am  entitled  to  my  opinion  and  convictions,  and  so 
is  every  other  American  from  that  standpoint  solely. 
We  owe  no  thanks  to  anyone  in  power  for  appoint 
ing  one  of  our  faith  to  any  position  of  trust  and  re 
sponsibility.  The  sole  question  as  to  the  right  of 
being  appointed  consists  in  the  fitness  and  ability  of 
the  candidate.  Any  other  course  would  be  preju 
dicial  to  all  the  equities  and  to  all  the  best  traditions 
of  our  Government.  I  find  that  from  the  days  of 
Lincoln  up  to  the  present,  Presidents  have  appointed 
American  citizens  of  Jewish  faith  to  important  posi 
tions  by  virtue  of  the  principle  above  enunciated. 
Members  of  Cabinets,  Ambassadors,  Ministers,  Judges 
and  other  offices  of  trust  have  thus  been  conferred 
and  no  credit  is  due  to  the  one  that  appoints  or  tq 
the  one  that  receives  the  appointment,  save  and  ex 
cept  that  the  appointing  power,  conscious  of  the  re 
sponsibility  vested  in  him,  recognizes  all  classes  of 
American  citizens  as  worthy  of  confidence,  and  that 
the  recipient  recognizes  party  affiliations  and  not 
sectarian  motives. 

I  have  been  asked  to  speak  on  the  political  hust 
ings  in  various  places  of  the  country,  and  notably  to 
my  co-religionists,  and  have  steadily  declined,  for  I 
would  be  recreant  to  all  that  is  best  in  American  in 
stitutions  if  I  were  to  prostitute  my  name  and  the 
good  will  I  enjoy  by  trying  to  corrall  those  of  my 
own  faith  because  one  or  the  other  President  may 
have  appointed  one  or  more  of  my  co-religionists. 
If  I  were  to  speak,  I  would  say:  "I  am  here  as  an 
American  citizen,  voicing  my  own  political  convic 
tions,  and  expect  each  and  everyone  of  you  to  vote 
according  to  your  convictions  as  American  citizens 
in  every  possible  direction,  that  while  we  are  Jews 
in  faith,  we  are  American  citizens,  and  being  such, 
we  exercise  the  God-given  right  of  voting  as  all  other 
of  our  fellow-citizens  are  expected  to  do.  Any  other 


WOODROW   WILSON  439 

course  would  destroy  the  fundamental  principles  of 
our  government,  and  the  Jews,  as  well  as  any  other 
nationality  or  religious  corporation,  would  be  used 
as  a  buffer  and  a  "hold-up"  to  secure  favors  from 
one  or  the  other  of  the  political  parties. 

During  my  vacation  in  the  summer  of  1915, 1  wrote 
to  Secretary  Lansing,  congratulating  him  on  the 
splendid  reply  made  to  Austria  in  the  matter  of  the 
exportation  of  munitions  of  war.  He  acknowledged 
my  letter  in  the  following  manner : 

The  Secretary  of  State, 

Washington,  August  19,  1915. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf : 

I  was  very  much  gratified  to  receive  your  letter  of 
congratulation  upon  our  reply  to  the  Austrian  state 
ment  relative  to  the  export  of  munitions  of  war. 

I  thank  you  for  your  letter  and  appreciate  greatly 
your  thoughtfulness  in  writing  me. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

ROBERT  LANSING. 
Simon  Wolf,  Esquire, 

Fabyan,  White  Mountains, 
New  Hampshire. 

On  different  occasions  I  addressed  Secretary  Wil 
son,  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  concerning  certain 
matters,  which  are  self-explained  by  Mr.  Wilson's 
replies,  which  are  set  forth  herein: 

Department  of  Labor, 
Office  of  the  Secretary, 

Washington,  March  6,  1916. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  am  sincerely  grateful  for  your  kind  note  of  the 
4th  instant.  It  is  peculiarly  gratifying  to  know  that 
the  conduct  of  this  new  Department  meets  with  the 


440  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

commendation  of  one  who  has  been  so  observant  of 
the  working  of  the  various  branches  of  the  Federal 
Government  as  yourself. 

Again  I  thank  you,  therefore,  for  your  generous 
expressions. 

Sincerely  yours, 

W.  B.  WILSON, 

Secretary. 

The  Secretary  of  Labor, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  March  23,  1916. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  23rd 
instant  relative  to  the  reception  in  honor  of  Ambas 
sador  Morgenthau  to  be  held  in  New  York  on  April 
5th. 

The  arrangements  suggested  by  you  are  entirely 
satisfactory  to  me  and  I  will  be  very  glad  to  accom 
pany  you  on  the  train  leaving  here  at  12.30  on  that 
date  for  New  York. 

Sincerely  yours, 

W.  B.  WILSON, 

Secretary. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Secretary  of  Labor, 

Washington,  April  12,  1916. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  10th  instant, 
with  enclosure,  copy  of  letter  of  appreciation  sent  by 
you  to  President  Wilson,  referring  to  my  participa 
tion  in  the  reception  to  Ambassador  Henry  Morgen 
thau.  Please  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  very 
kind  references  to  the  address  delivered  by  me  on 
that  occasion. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

W.  B.  WILSON, 

Secretary. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Woodward  Building, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


WOODROW  WILSON  441 

On  one  of  my  personal  visits  to  the  White  House, 
I  left  with  President  Wilson  a  pamphlet  on  Zionism, 
prepared  by  the  late  Dr.  Voorsanger,  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  as  well  as  copy  of  my  sketch  of  Mordecai  Man 
uel  Noah.  The  following  day,  after  having  had  a 
chance  to  glance  at  them,  the  President  wrote  me  a 
personal  note  of  thanks,  in  which  he  said : 

June  1,  1916. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  greatly  appreciate  your  courtesy  in  leaving  with 
me  yesterday  the  pamphlet  on  Zionism  and  your 
sketch  on  Mordecai  Manual  Noah,  and  I  shall  value 
them  not  only  for  their  intrinsic  merit,  but  also  as  an 
evidence  of  your  thoughtful  friendship. 

Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Mr.  Simon  Wolf, 

Woodward  Building, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

The  following  letter  to  the  President  is  self-explan 
atory: 

June  11,  1917. 
To  the  President: 

I  have  read  with  great  admiration  and  patriotic 
fervor  your  admirable  letter  to  the  Russian  people. 
Nothing  could  be  clearer  or  sincerer,  and  the  passage 
about  "expending  our  blood  and  treasure  and  that 
we  must  be  victorious  now,"  I  am  sure  will  have  a 
great  effect  upon  all  the  people  of  the  world.  It  is 
providential  that  in  a  crisis  like  this,  we  have  at  the 
head  of  our  great  Government  a  man  whose  brain 
and  heart  are  so  completely  woven  together  for  the 
common  good  of  humanity. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF. 


442  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

The  Roumanian  Commission  being  about  to  visit 
our  country  to  secure  recognition  and  aid  from  our 
Government,  I  felt  the  time  opportune  to  suggest  to 
the  State  Department  that  steps  should  be  taken  to 
secure  some  absolute  guarantee  as  to  the  granting 
of  equal  rights  to  the  Jews  resident  in  Roumania. 
Therefore  I  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Secre 
tary  Lansing: 

June  26,  1917. 
Hon.  Robert  Lansing, 
State  Department, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 

I  wish  to  bring  to  your  attention  the  fact  that 
Roumania  so  far,  either  because  it  did  not  care 
to  declare  itself,  or  was  unable  to  do  so  in  conse 
quence  of  conditions,  has  made  no  promise  of  taking 
any  step,  as  far  as  known  to  me,  in  regard  to  eman 
cipating  Roumanian  citizens  of  Jewish  faith.  Time 
and  again  in  the  last  forty  years  they  have  promised 
to  do  so — in  fact,  became  a  party  to  the  famous  Ber 
lin  treaty,  but  which  was  ignored  by  the  Roumanian 
Government. 

As  the  Roumanian  Commission  is  about  coming 
here  to  secure  recognition  and  aid  from  our  Govern 
ment,  it  seems  to  me  it  would  be  highly  desirable  to 
secure  from  this  Commission  some  absolute  guaran 
tee  as  to  granting  equal  rights  to  the  Jews  of  Rou 
mania. 

More  than  likely  you  have  already  taken  steps  in 
this  direction. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

SIMON  WOLF, 

Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Delegates 
on  Civil  Rights  of  the  Union  of 
American  Hebrew  Congregations, 

and 

Resident  Representative  of  the  Inde 
pendent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith. 


WOODROW   WILSON  443 

And  in  answer  to  which  I  received  assurances  that 
the  subject-matter  would  be  given  attention. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  banquet  tendered  to  me  by 
New  York  friends  in  honor  of  my  eightieth  birthday, 
President  Wilson  sent  the  following  letter  in  ac 
knowledgment  of  the  invitation  sent  to  him: 

The  White  House, 

Washington,  November  22,  1916. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Peyser : 

I  am  complimented  by  the  interesting  invitation 
conveyed  by  your  letter  of  November  twenty-first  and 
sincerely  regret  that  my  duties  are  so  exacting  and 
are  likely  to  continue  so  pressing  that  it  will  not  be 
possible  for  me  to  join  the  members  of  the  Hebrew 
Sheltering  and  Immigrant  Aid  Society  of  America  in 
the  banquet  they  are  planning  to  tender  the  Honor 
able  Simon  Wolf.  I  can  only  express  my  apprecia 
tion  and  regret. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Julius  I.  Peyser,  Esq., 
Washington,  D.  C. 

One  of  the  tributes  on  my  eightieth  birthday: 
To  SIMON  WOLF 

ON  HIS  EIGHTIETH  BIRTHDAY 

Made  of  the  stuff  from  which  Kings  are  wrought 

Yet  greater  than  any  King 
Brother  to  men  of  every  clime,  and 

To  every  living  thing 
Ruler  o'er  hearts  that  prize  true  worth 

Yet  servant  of  all  who  need 
Rich  in  what  you  have  given  away 

Though  deaf  to  the  voice  of  creed. 


444  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

A  heart  that  feels  for  the  woes  of  men 

Whatever  their  creed  or  clime 
Honored  thy  name  the  whole  world  round 

For  words  and  deeds  sublime 
We  honor  you  this  day  of  days 

As  you  cross  the  eightieth  span 

Of  the  arch  of  life,  a  life  well  spent 

In  the  service  of  God  and  man. 

TERENCE  VINCENT  POWDERLY, 

Late  Commissioner-General 

of  Immigration. 
October  28,  1916. 

The  following  correspondence  exchanged  between 
President  Wilson  and  myself  during  my  summer  va 
cation  in  1917  may  be  of  interest  to  my  readers: 

Poland  Spring  House, 
South  Poland,  Maine. 

August  17,  1917. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President: 

Last  evening  we  had  an  illustrated  lecture  on  our 
"five  great  wars,"  when  your  picture  and  the  legend 
"Stand  by  the  President"  appeared,  the  applause  was 
great  and  a  wave  of  patriotism  swept  over  the  large 
audience.  When  Grant's  picture  appeared  and  the 
lecturer  said  Grant's  slogan  of  "Unconditional  Sur 
render"  must  be  applied  to  Germany,  the  Welkin 
rang  with  cheers.  The  people  are  waking  up  and  I 
do  feel  that  the  horizon  is  brightening.  God  and  the 
country  is  with  you. 

Sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

The  White  House, 

Washington,  21  August,  1917. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Your  letter  of  August  seventeenth  has  brought  me 
very  cheering  information  and  I  want  to  thank  you 


WOODROW   WILSON  445 

for  it  very  sincerely.     It  was  certainly  an  act  of 
thoughtful  kindness  on  your  part  to  write. 
Sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Poland  Spring  House, 
South  Poland,  Maine. 

Poland  Spring  House, 
South  Poland,  Maine,  Aug.  29,  1917. 
My  Dear  Mr.  President : 

Your  trumpet  call  to  the  Democracy  of  the  World 
is  masterly,  and  will  rank  equal,  if  not  superior  to 
any  state  paper  in  our  archives.  Please  accept  my 
sincere  appreciation.  There  is  only  one  way  for  en 
during  peace  and  that  way  you  have  outlined  in 
plain  Anglo  Saxon  words.  They  ring  true. 

Sincerely, 

SIMON  WOLF. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1918,  I  wrote  to  President 
Wilson,  thanking  him  for  the  splendid  address  he 
had  made  before  Congress,  to  which  he  replied  as 
follows : 

The  White  House, 

Washington,  January  10,  1918. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

Thank  you  very  warmly  for  your  note  of  yester 
day.  It  is  much  appreciated. 

Sincerely  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 

Washington,  D.  G.      • 

It  is  gratifying  that  American  citizens  of  Jewish 
faith  have  been  summoned  to  positions  of  great  trust 
and  responsibility  in  this  crucial  hour,  noticeably 
the  patriotic  philanthropist,  Julius  Rosenwald.  His 
example  of  civic  and  Jewish  duty  has  been  and  is  an 
inspiration. 


446  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Since  publishing  the  first  edition,  the  President  of 
the  United  States  has  called  to  the  Public  Service, 
Bernard  M.  Baruch,  who  has  been  a  tower  of  strength 
proving  his  generosity  and  loyal  patriotism. 

My  estimate  of  President  Wilson,  tersely  expressed, 
is  that  his  leadership,  his  literary  genius,  his  states 
manship  and  political  sagacity  are  unsurpassed  in 
the  annals  of  our  country.  Our  relations  have  been 
most  friendly,  and  it  is  my  sincere  wish  that  they 
will  so  continue  to  the  end. 

In  the  midst  of  this  great  struggle  of  democracy 
against  military  autocracy,  it  behooves  every  Amer 
ican,  irrespective  of  nationality,  creed  or  political 
affinity,  to  support,  encourage  and  uphold  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  and  at  no  time  during  my 
four-score  years  and  two  have  I  been  more  optimis 
tic  as  to  the  final  outcome,  confident  that  the  Re 
public  founded  by  Washington,  preserved  by  Lin 
coln,  will  be  perpetuated  by  Woodrow  Wilson. 

It  is  most  gratifying  to  state  that  during  all  these 
years  of  personal  and  official  relations  with  the 
Presidents  and  their  several  Department  Secretaries, 
as  well  as  the  Chiefs  of  the  Bureaus,  our  intercourse 
has  been  uniformly  cordial,  considerate  and  humane, 
and  it  is  gratifying  for  an  American  citizen  to  give 
emphasis  to  this  liberal  humanizing  conduct  on  the 
part  of  those  who  govern  the  affairs  of  state. 


HUMOROUS  INCIDENTS 

While  seated  in  the  coupe  on  my  way  to  Lyons, 
France,  a  lady  and  gentleman  came  in  who  spoke 
English.  I  had  just  received  my  mail  from  the  Con 
sulate.  Among  other  things  was  a  copy  of  Pack, 
which  I  handed  over  to  the  gentleman,  and  he  im 
mediately  returned  it  to  me,  saying  "The  dirty  dog." 
I  could  not  understand  why  he  should  say  that  and 
looked  at  the  cartoon,  and  lo  and  behold,  it  had  a 
picture  by  Nast  of  Tweed  and  his  gang  in  striped 
clothes.  I  looked  at  the  man  and  found  that  he  was 
Garvey,  the  plasterer  of  the  New  York  Court  House. 
In  conversation  with  him  I  found  that  he  was  en 
tirely  innocent  of  the  charges,  which  was  confirmed 
by  Father  Malone,  and  we  had  a  very  pleasant  time 
together,  his  wife  being  a  most  intelligent,  accom 
plished  woman,  and  they  were  of  my  party  on  the 
Nile. 

During  my  early  days  in  Washington  I  taught  in 
the  Sabbath  School,  and  one  Sabbath  a  young  girl 
who  had  been  asked  to  write  an  essay  on  King  Solo 
mon  brought  the  following:  "King  Solomon  was  a 
wise  and  great  man  in  Israel.  He  had  600  wives, 
400  lady  friends,  and  there  is  where  all  the  Free 
Masons  come  from." 

A  few  years  ago  I  was  invited  to  speak  at  the 
Shamrock  Club  of  this  city,  of  which  I  am  now  an 
honorary  member.  Being  called  on  to  speak,  I  said, 
"I  am  very  much  reminded  of  the  Irishman  who 
asked  the  Priest  to  have  him  buried,  as  he  was  then 
expected  to  die,  in  a  Jewish  cemetery.  When  the 


448  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Priest,  astonished,  asked  him  why,  he  replied,  "Why, 
your  Holy  Reverence,  the  devil  never  would  look  for 
me  there,"  and  so  I  said  "My  friends  would  never 
look  for  me  tonight  at  this  club." 


Some  years  ago  on  my  trip  from  Atlanta,  where 
I  had  been  attending  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Orphans'  Home,  coming  into  the  Pullman  from  the 
diner,  a  gentleman  greeted  me  and  asked  me  to  take 
a  seat  with  him.  Inquired  where  I  was  from  and 
when  informed,  he  said  Washington  was  a  wonder 
fully  beautiful  city,  making  great  progress.  I  said 
"Where  are  you  from?"  and  he  replied,  "North  Caro 
lina,"  and  I  said,  "The  South  is  making  rapid  strides, 
commercially  and  financially,  and  North  Carolina 
particularly  so,  and  if  they  could  get  rid  of  their 
Governor  they  would  do  still  more."  He  replied,  "I 
am  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina."  He  then  called 
his  son  and  said  he  wanted  to  introduce  a  gentleman 
who  didn't  like  the  Governor.  We  became  quite  in 
timate  and  had  a  pleasant  time  together,  and  he  has 
remained  my  friend  ever  since. 


One  evening  in  Washington  I  escorted  the  wife  of 
a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  dinner.  In  con 
versation  I  found  that  she  was  from  Ohio,  and  I 
asked  if  she  knew  a  certain  person  in  the  city  where 
she  lived  who  had  been  a  notorious  copperhead,  and 
an  opponent  of  President  Lincoln,  and  she  said,  "Oh, 
yes,  Mr.  Wolf,  I  knew  him  very  well;  he  was  my 
father."  And  no  one  enjoyed  the  incident  more  than 
the  Justice. 


HUMOROUS   INCIDENTS  449 

During  President  McKinley's  administration  a  ban 
quet  was  given  at  the  Arlington  Hotel,  and  among 
other  toasts,  a  member  of  Congress  from  New  York, 
elected  by  the  Tammany  organization,  responded  to 
the  sentiment  "Our  Ladies."  After  going  over  the 
stilted  phrases  incident  to  this  toast,  he  worked  him 
self  up  into  a  grand  passion  of  rhetoric  and  said, 
"On  the  battlefield  of  Balaklava,  when  the  camp 
fires  were  lit,  and  the  moon  shone  in  all  its  glory, 
there  arose  from  the  different  camps  the  glorious 
song  which  has  circled  the  world,  'Annie  Rooney' ' 
(instead  of  Annie  Laurie). 


An  incident  in  Andrew  Johnson's  career  typifies 
the  character  of  the  man.  When  appointed  Gover 
nor  of  Nashville  he  was  told  that  if  he  attempted  to 
speak  in  that  city  he  would  be  shot.  Arriving  there 
he  had  a  large  table  placed  in  front  of  the  Court 
House  where  he  was  to  speak,  and  pulling  out  a  large 
revolver,  put  it  on  the  table.  He  said,  "I  am  in 
formed  that  I  would  be  shot  if  I  attempted  to  speak 
here.  I  am  ready  to  be  shot  before  I  commence." 
There  was  dead  silence  and  then  tumultuous  ap 
plause,  and  he  made  his  speech  without  any  moles 
tation. 


U.  S.  Senator  McCreery,  during  General  Grant's 
administration,  was  a  very  genial,  rough  diamond. 
A  nephew  of  his  who  had  been  in  Europe  called  on 
him  and  left  his  card,  and  when  they  met,  the  Uncle 
said,  "Dick,  what  did  you  mean  by  leaving  your  card 
marked  E.  P.?"  The  nephew  explained  to  the  Uncle 
the  meaning  of  the  letters  E.  P.  and  R.  S.  V.  P.,  etc., 
and  the  Uncle  replied,  "Is  that  what  you  went  to 


450  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Europe  for?"  Several  weeks  afterwards  the  nephew 
met  the  Senator  and  he  said,  "Uncle  I  see  you  called 
on  me  and  left  your  card,"  and  the  Uncle  answered, 
"Yes."  The  nephew  said,  "What  did  you  mean  by 
S.  B.  A.  N.  ?"  "Sent  by  a  nigger,"  the  Senator  replied. 

Senator  McDougal,  of  California,  was  a  very  ac 
complished  scholar,  but  was  very  convivial  in  his 
habits.  During  Johnson's  administration  one  night, 
coming  from  a  dinner  party,  he  slipped  into  a  sewer, 
and  would  have  disappeared  down  the  Potomac  had 
it  not  been  for  the  curious  coincidence  of  the  pres 
ence  of  a  policeman,  who  grabbed  him  just  as  he 
was  disappearing.  The  policeman  evidently  did  not 
know  him  and  said,  "Who  are  you?"  The  Senator 
replied  in  a  guttural  voice,  "I — I — I  was  Senator  Mc 
Dougal,  but  now  I  am  sewered  (Seward). 

On  my  way  to  Egypt  I  left  Vienna  to  take  the 
steamer  at  Venice,  and  as  I  entered  the  coupe  a  gen 
tleman  was  seated  in  the  extreme  end.  I  said,  "Good 
morning,"  "Bon  jour,"  "Guttentag,"  and  received  no 
response.  I  concluded  that  the  man  was  deaf  or  an 
Englishman.  As  we  got  to  a  stopping  place  where 
we  got  the  London  papers  a  thought  struck  me  as  I 
heard  the  boy  calling  London  Times,  Telegraph,  etc., 
and  I  beckoned  to  the  boy  and  bought  all  the  papers 
he  had,  and  came  back  into  the  coupe  and  sat  down 
on  the  papers.  The  train  started  and  the  gentleman 
in  the  corner  said,  "Would  you  be  kind  enough  and 
let  me  have  one  of  your  papers?"  and  I  promptly 
replied,  "I  thought  you  were  deaf,"  and  he  laughed 
and  said,  "No,  I  am  not  deaf;  I  am  only  one  of  those 
cussed  fools  who  think  to  speak  to  anyone  without 


HUMOROUS   INCIDENTS  451 

being  introduced  is  a  crime."  We  became  quite 
chatty,  and  had  a  royal  lunch  together;  found  he  was 
an  English  nobleman  and  member  of  Parliament, 
and  we  parted  the  best  of  friends,  having  handed  me 
his  card,  and  begged  me,  if  ever  I  came  to  London, 
to  look  him  up. 

When  I  returned  from  Egypt  and  going  from 
Frankfort  to  Munich,  just  as  the  train  was  starting  a 
lady  was  precipitated  into  the  coupe  with  a  number 
of  bundles.  I  sprang  to  her  rescue  and  placed  the 
bundles  in  the  rack.  We  commenced  talking.  I 
found  her  to  be  a  woman  of  culture.  She  was  on 
her  way  to  greet  her  son,  who  was  coming  from  In 
dia.  We  found  many  things  in  common,  especially 
experiences  in  Egypt.  She  was  an  English  woman, 
and  we  began  to  converse  about  the  peculiarities  and 
eccentricities  of  different  nationalities.  Among  other 
things  I  told  her  the  incident  above  related,  and 
showed  her  the  card  of  the  gentleman.  She  gave  a 
shriek  and  said,  "That  was  my  husband."  Subse 
quently  when  in  London  I  called  on  this  wonderful 
couple  and  had  a  royal  reception,  and  have  ever  felt 
grateful  for  the  curious  incidents  that  led  to  so 
pleasant  an  acquaintance. 


While  in  Egypt  the  Khedive  presented  me  with  a 
sacred  bug,  which  had  been  placed  with  the  mum 
mies  o£  Rameses.  It  was  a  very  valuable  treasure, 
and  the  London  Museum  was  anxious  to  get  it  and 
offered  me  a  thousand  pounds.  When  I  returned 
home,  my  father-in-law,  when  told  of  this  incident, 
said,  "What  two  fools  were  there  on  that  day,  the 
man  that  offered  it  and  the  man  that  refused  it." 


452  THE   PRESIDENTS  I   HAVE   KNOWN 

An  incident  occurred  at  the  National  Theatre  in 
Washington  one  night  when  a  beautiful  opera  was 
given.  Some  of  the  attaches  of  one  of  the  legations 
were  in  one  of  the  boxes.  They  chatted  so  much 
that  the  audience  was  very  much  disturbed.  I  arose 
in  my  seat  and  said  in  a  very  loud  voice,  "If  the 
music  and  singers  do  not  stop  it  will  be  impossible 
for  us  to  hear  what  is  going  on  in  the  box."  For  a 
moment  there  was  dead  silence,  and  then  the  ap 
plause  was  tremendous  and  then  the  box  was  empty. 


When  I  was  leaving  Egypt  on  a  vacation  in  April, 
1882,  Araba  Pacha  was  the  Chief  Executive  and  had 
assumed  supreme  authority,  although  the  Khedive 
was  still  reigning.  In  making  my  farewell  visit,  I 
said  to  him,  "Your  Excellency,  I  hope  when  I  return 
I  will  find  you  well,  and  Egypt  happy."  Araba  Pacha, 
who  had  a  great  deal  of  the  native  humor  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln,  promptly  replied,  "That  reminds  me 
of  a  Sheik  speaking  in  the  Mosque,  who  said,  'All  of 
you  who  are  afraid  of  your  wives  stand  up.'  All  ex 
cept  one  man  stood  up.  At  the  close  of  the  service 
the  Sheik  went  up  to  this  man  and  said,  'Evidently 
you  are  not  afraid  of  your  wife,'  and  the  man  in  a 
plaintive  tone  said,  'She  gave  me  such  a  beating  this 
morning  that  I  am  not  able  to  stand  up.'  So,  my 
dear  Consul-General,  when  you  return  you  may  find 
me  well,  but  you  will  also  find  that  England  has 
given  us  such  a  drubbing  that  we  can't  stand  up." 
His  prophesy  was  fulfilled. 

In  1904,  when  in  Portland,  Oregon,  I  was  asked  by 
Dr.  Stephen  S.  Wise,  now  of  New  York,  then  the 
Rabbi  of  the  Portland  synagogue,  to  speak  to  the 


HUMOROUS   INCIDENTS  453 

Sabbath  School  children  on  the  subject  of  Egypt.  I 
did  so,  describing  the  country  and  my  experiences  in 
simple  words  and  phrases,  in  order  that  the  children 
could  grasp  my  meaning  without  straining  their  men 
tal  faculties. 

Among  other  things,  I  described  my  official  recep 
tion  when  I  arrived  in  Cairo;  that  I  had  been  sent 
for  by  the  Khedive  to  be  brought  to  the  Palace  in  a 
gilded  coach  drawn  by  white  horses,  like  another 
Cinderella,  and  the  Khedive's  Chamberlain  to  escort 
me.  At  the  close  of  my  address  I  told  the  children 
that  I  would  give  to  one  Boy  and  one  girl  who  would 
write  the  best  essay  on  what  I  had  said  a  copy  of 
my  book,  "The  American  Jew,"  and  an  autographed 
photograph  of  the  author. 

A  few  weeks  after  I  received  two  large  envelopes 
from  Dr.  Wise.  The  boys'  essays  were  all  very  good, 
and  I  had  some  trouble  in  making  the  selection.  In 
the  girls'  package  I  had  absolutely  no  trouble  what 
ever  as  one  of  the  girls  had  written  the  following: 

"This  morning  the  good  Rabbi  introduced  the  Hon. 
Simon  Wolf,  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  who  told  us  of 
Egypt  and  our  ancestors;  how  he  was  received  by  the 
Khedive,  being  taken  to  the  Palace  in  a  gilded  coach 
drawn  by  white  horses,  and  that  as  a  mark  of  good 
will  he  had  even  sent  his  chamber-maid.91 

Needless  to  add  that  this  girl  won  the  prize. 


One  day  I  met  my  friend,  Hon.  T.  V.  Powderly. 
During  our  conversation  he  asked  me  the  number  of 
my  business  telephone.  Main  7777.  He  laughed 
heartily  and  said  that  reminded  him  of  an  incident. 
"Years  ago  a  Priest  went  back  to  his  old  home  in 
Ireland.  The  son  of  an  old  friend  had  died.  The 


454  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Priest  was  asked  to  officiate.  On  the  day  of  the 
funeral  the  good  Father  spoke  feelingly  (the  custom 
in  Old  Erin  is  to  put  the  age  of  the  departed  on  the 
coffin).  When  the  Priest  saw  the  figure  he  halted. 
Then  again  spoke  of  the  youth  and  bright  future  of 
the  son.  He  stopped,  looked  at  the  figure,  and  finally 
said,  'My  dear  friends,  this  young  man  was  born  be 
fore  the  flood.' "  The  figures  instead  of  28,  showed 
7777. 


In  1850,  in  my  old  Ohio  home,  there  lived  an  ec 
centric  man,  very  absent-minded.  He  would  wade 
through  the  muddy  streets  unconscious  of  what  he 
was  doing.  On  one  occasion  he  wandered  into  the 
Post  Office  and  commenced  writing.  After  a  while 
he  stopped  and  rested  his  head  on  his  hands.  The 
Postmaster,  Samuel  Haskins,  came  to  him  and  said, 
"How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Dawson?"  He  was  alert  at 
once  and  said,  "That's  it,  by  George,  Robert  M.  Daw- 
son,"  having  forgotten  his  own  name. 

For  years  I  was  in  the  habit  of  stopping  in  Phila 
delphia  on  my  way  from  New  York  to  Washington, 
to  visit  my  dear  and  sainted  parents,  and  to  get  their 
blessing.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  five  years  after 
the  celebration  of  their  golden  wedding,  I  rang  the 
bell  of  their  home.  Mother  opened  the  door  and 
greeted  me  as  ever.  I  said,  "Where  is  father?"  "The 
vagabond  is  in  the  club,"  I  went  out  to  bring  him 
home.  When  we  were  seated,  mother  said,  "My 
dear  Simon,  what  I  have  to  endure  with  this  man 
no  one  knows,  but  I  always  knew  it  was  no  match 
for  me.  When  there  is  a  ballet  in  town,  your  father 
sits  in  front  of  the  stage."  All  this  at  the  age  of 


HUMOROUS    INCIDENTS  455 

eighty-six  and  after  fifty-five  years  of  happy  wedded 
life.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  have  inherited  both 
of  their  characteristics. 


For  twenty-five  years  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  I 
addressed  the  Jewish  Congregation  of  Washington. 
On  one  of  the  evenings  after  I  had  made  a  talk,  an 
old  Jewish  woman  returned  to  her  home.  Her  chil 
dren  flocked  around  her,  solicitous  as  to  her  health, 
having  fasted  all  day.  She  said,  "I  feel  well.  Oh, 
children,  you  should  have  heard  Mr.  Wolf  today." 
"What  did  he  say,  mother?"  "What  he  said  I  do  not 
know,  but  he  did  speak  beautifully."  This  can  be 
truthfully  said  of  other  speakers.  William  Jennings 
Bryan  said  at  the  B'nai  B'rith  banquet  of  District 
Grand  Lodge  No.  5,  in  1913,  "I  got  all  the  applause, 
but  McKinley  got  the  votes." 

On  Lincoln's  birthday,  February  12, 1917, 1  was  the 
guest  of  honor  at  a  banquet  given  by  Joseph  Lodge, 
I.  0.  B.  B.,  at  Bridgeport,  Conn.  The  Governor  of 
Connecticut  and  other  notables  were  speakers.  The 
Governor  praised  New  England  and  the  Puritan 
Fathers.  I  responded  to  the  toast  "Our  Country." 
Among  other  things,  I  quoted  the  incident  of  Haym 
Salomon  and  what  he,  the  Polish  Jew,  had  done  for 
the  Republic;  that  he  had  loaned  Washington  and 
other  patriots  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  at  a 
time  of  dire  distress;  that  some  of  the  heirs  had  for 
years  tried  to  secure  payment  or  recognition;  that 
the  bill  went  from  House  to  Senate,  or  from  Senate 
to  House,  without  result,  but  this  was  not  to  be  won 
dered  at,  "being  the  claim  of  a  Jew,  naturally,  there 
was  no  'pork'  in  it." 


456  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

Years  ago  I  attended  a  wedding  at  Goldsboro, 
North  Carolina.  The  day  was  February  22d.  In  the 
midst  of  the  hilarity,  champagne  flowing  freely,  a 
gentleman  who  had  seen  service  in  the  Confederate 
Army,  arose  and  proposed  a  toast.  The  glasses  were 
raised,  "Here  is  to  the  greatest  American,  Jefferson 
Davis."  My  glass  went  down.  After  the  cheers,  I 
said,  "It  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  more  appro 
priate  to  drink  to  the  Father  of  Our  Country,  George 
Washington."  For  a  moment  silence  reigned  and 
then  great  applause  followed,  and  the  gallant  south 
erner  shook  hands  with  me  in  a  very  cordial  way. 

Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  an  associa 
tion  of  which  I  was  a  member  went  to  Richmond  as 
the  guest  of  a  society.  After  feasting  and  singing,  I 
was  asked  to  speak.  At  the  close  I  asked  all  to  rise 
and  sing  the  grand  anthem  of  our  reunited  country. 
I  felt  the  shock  of  surprise,  but  all  responded.  It 
was  the  first  time  since  1860  that  the  "Star  Spangled 
Banner"  had  been  heard,  and  ever  since  the  close  of 
the  war  the  sons  of  the  southland  have  nobly  re 
sponded  in  peace  and  war,  worthy  sons  of  the  great 
and  free  Republic,  and  at  no  time  more  heartily  than 
now. 

At  a  banquet  of  the  Masonic  Veterans  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  Frank  P.  Sargent,  then  Commis 
sioner-General  of  Immigration,  and  president  of  the 
Locomotive  Firemen  of  the  United  States,  was  one 
of  the  speakers.  To  illustrate  the  peculiar  ideas  of 
the  labor  union  he  told  the  following  story :  "It  was 
lunch  hour.  The  men  were  scattered  on  the  lawn. 
A  foreman  made  the  rounds,  and  came  to  a  man 


HUMOROUS   INCIDENTS  457 

lying  under  a  tree  groaning  lustily.  'What  is  up, 
Mike?'  'Oh,  I  have  great  pain.'  'Why  don't  you  go 
to  the  drug  store  and  be  relieved?'  What,  in  my 
toimr  " 


During  the  Buchanan-Fremont  campaign  of  1856, 
before  I  was  a  voter,  I  was  an  ardent  Democrat.  The 
township  in  which  I  lived  was  Republican,  and  Bu 
chanan  was  elected  by  the  nation,  while  Fremont 
carried  Ohio.  The  Republicans  got  up  a  monster 
demonstration  at  Shipton  Hall,  to  which  they  invited 
me,  but  which  I  declined.  I  in  turn  invited  the 
Democrats  of  Tuscarawas  County  to  a  dinner  that 
I  arranged  in  the  loft  of  the  warehouse  annexed  to 
our  store.  I  sent  for  music,  oysters,  etc.,  and  we  had 
a  royal  time.  The  chairman  of  the  evening  was  Dr. 
John  Brisbane.  The  Republicans  had  sent  to  a  west 
ern  county  of  Ohio  for  venison.  Dr.  Brisbane  arose 
and  said,  "While  the  Republicans  are  feasting  on 
dead  venison,  we  are  the  guests  of  a  hospitable  living 
Wolf." 


In  1870,  at  the  dedication  of  the  Steuben  monu 
ment  in  Scheutzen  Park,  I  delivered  an  address  on 
the  German-French  War.  President  Grant,  Carl 
Schurz  and  Baron  Gerolt  were  present.  It  made 
a  deep  impression  and  was  printed.  One  of  these 
copies  I  sent  to  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise,  of  Cincin 
nati,  who  was  notoriously  at  that  time  in  favor  of 
France.  He  returned  the  copy  to  me  with  this  en 
dorsement,  "Simon,  you  are  a  'Shaute'  (fool). 

/.  M.  Wise." 


458  THE   PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

During  President  Harrison's  administration  there 
was  an  after-dinner  club  which  met  at  the  Willard 
Hotel.  The  association  had  no  constitution  or  by 
laws  or  officers  but  elected  the  presiding  officer  dur 
ing  the  evening.  On  this  particular  evening,  Senator 
Palmer,  of  Michigan,  afterwards  the  Director-General 
of  the  Chicago  World's  Fair,  presided.  William  A. 
Croffut,  a  celebrated  newspaper  correspondent,  was 
introduced  and  proposed  as  a  subject  for  debate, 
"Shakespeare  or  Bacon."  After  a  number  of  per 
sons  had  spoken,  Senator  Palmer  introduced  me  as 
the  next  speaker.  I  arose  very  solemnly  and  said, 
"Ladies  and  Gentlemen.  As  a  descendant  of  the  an 
cient  people,  I  do  not  care  for  Bacon,"  which  of 
course  settled  the  situation  as  far  as  I  was  concerned. 


During  the  administration  of  President  Hayes, 
General  Sherman  was  a  guest  at  the  annual  festival 
of  the  Scheutzenverein,  and  as  I  escorted  him  through 
the  banquet  room  the  band  struck  up  "Marching 
Through  Georgia,"  and  General  Sherman  turned  to 
me  and  said,  "By  God,  Wolf,  I  wish  I  had  never  seen 
Georgia." 


When  I  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  I  went  to  ML 
Vernon,  Ohio,  where  the  District  Court  was  in  ses 
sion  and  my  examination  was  referred  to  Columbus 
Delano,  who  was  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under 
Grant,  and  Frank  Hurd,  at  one  time  member  of  Con 
gress.  We  went  to  the  hotel,  and  after  dinner  they 
set  down  to  examine  my  qualifications.  Delano  re 
quested  Hurd  to  examine  me.  Hurd  said,  "Mr.  Wolf, 
what  is  the  first  duty  of  an  attorney?"  I  promptly 
replied,  "To  get  a  retainer."  Hurd  turned  to  Delano 
and  said,  "Mr.  Delano,  have  you  any  other  questions 


HUMOROUS    INCIDENTS  459 

to  ask?"  Delano  said,  "I  think  Mr.  Wolf  has  an 
swered  all  the  requirements,"  and  they  signed  my 
certificate.  I  regret  to  say  that  I  have  not  lived  up 
to  that  answer. 

In  1874,  after  the  General  Convention  of  the  Inde 
pendent  Order  of  B'nai  B'rith  at  Chicago,  I  went  by 
invitation  to  Louisville,  Kentucky.  At  the  close  of 
the  meeting  held  there,  I  called  on  Minna  Kleeberg, 
the  noted  Jewish  poetess.  Her  marital  relations  were 
not  very  happy.  In  addition  thereto,  she  had  defec 
tive  hearing. 

We  had  a  very  pleasant  hour,  and  she  did  a  great 
deal  of  talking,  and  I  good-naturedly  a  great  deal  of 
hearing.  Among  other  things  she  said  was,  "My  dear 
friend,  when  I  was  a  young  girl  I  had  great  ambition. 
I  dreamt  of  a  golden  future,  and  I  prayed  to  God  to 
give  me  a  husband  whom  I  could  honor  and  respect, 
but  alas,  he  has  given  me  no  hearing. " 


Father  Sylvester  Malone,  of  Brooklyn,  who  was 
one  of  my  companions  in  Egypt,  was  a  character. 
True  to  his  faith,  he  was  thoroughly  cosmopolitan. 
When  the  Civil  War  came  he  hoisted  the  flag  on  his 
church.  Some  of  his  parishioners  threatened  to  take 
it  down.  He  promptly  got  a  rifle  and  said,  "Who 
ever  attempts  to  take  down  the  American  flag,  I  will 
shoot."  A  good  lesson  for  some  of  our  slackers  to 
day. 


Years  ago  at  the  old  United  States  Hotel,  Atlantic 
City,  at  which  I  was  stopping,  two  young  cockneys 
with  more  hair  than  brains  were  lamenting  as  to 
where  one  could  go  and  not  find  these  Jews.  I 
promptly  replied,  "To  hell." 


460  THE  PRESIDENTS   I   HAVE   KNOWN 

HOTEL  EGYPT,  ALEXANDRIA,  INCIDENT. 

While  at  the  Hotel  Egypt  in  Alexandria,  waiting  to 
register,  the  room  clerk  told  me  of  a  very  funny  in 
cident  in  connection  with  our  celebrated  statesman, 
Robert  R.  Hitt,  who,  while  waiting  to  enter  his  name, 
had  observed  that  the  room  clerk  was  speaking  every 
conceivable  language.  So  when  it  came  his  turn  to 
register,  he  said,  "Do  you  speak  American?"  And 
the  clerk  promptly  replied,  "Yes,  Gargon,  go  upstairs 
in  my  room  and  bring  down  the  American  Gram 
mar";  and  lo,  and  behold,  when  it  appeared  it  was 
the  book  of  Petroleum  V.  Nasby  of  the  Toledo  Blade, 
the  famous  book  that  afforded  so  much  amusement 
and  pleasure  to  Abraham  Lincoln. 

THE  DOUGLASS  INCIDENT. 

Shortly  after  I  had  taken  charge  of  the  Recorder's 
office,  I  was  besieged  by  persons  desiring  clerical 
positions.  Among  them  was  the  son  of  Frederick 
Douglass.  He  had  applied,  being  a  printer,  for  work 
at  the  Typographical  Union,  and  they  promptly 
blackballed  him,  and  I  equally  promptly  appointed 
him.  Some  of  the  other  clerks  criticising  me,  I 
promptly  dismissed,  for  I  made  it  a  rule  of  my  life, 
that  prejudice  is  not  only  a  blunder,  but  a  crime,  and 
for  a  Jew  to  give  evidence  of  that  accursed  virus  is 
unpardonable.  The  press  brought  editorials  on  my 
action  and  favorable  in  each  instance.  It  was  the 
only  decent  thing  to  do.  Years  after,  Frederick 
Douglass  was  appointed  to  the  same  office  which  I 
had  held  for  nine  years. 


HUMOROUS  INCIDENTS  461 

THE  JUNE,  1863,  INCIDENT  WITH  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
On  the  26th  day  of  June,  1863, 1  called  at  the  White 
House.  Although  the  President  was  busy  and  very 
much  disturbed,  he  graciously  accorded  me  an  inter 
view.  His  face  lighted  up  and  he  feelingly  said, 
"Dark  days  these.  The  clouds  obscure  the  sun,  but  it 
is  there  all  the  same.  We  must  win,  we  will  win" 
Gettysburg  was  the  answer,  and  thus  the  fourth  day 
of  July,  1863,  made  the  wonderful  world  celebration 
of  1918  a  possibility. 

GENERAL  POPE'S  TELEGRAM  AND  ITS  CONSEQUENCES. 

While  the  Second  Battle  of  Bull  Run  was  being 
fought,  General  John  Pope  telegraphed  that  he  had 
so  many  prisoners  that  he  needed  civilian  help  and 
supplies.  I  promptly,  among  others,  responded,  hired 
a  horse  and  wagon,  filled  it  with  all  kinds  of  supplies, 
and  rushed  to  the  battle  front.  Instead  of  helping 
Pope,  we  were  made  prisoners,  the  tide  having  turned 
in  favor  of  Lee.  Horse,  wagon,  supplies  were  con 
fiscated,  while  I  was  ordered  to  Libby  Prison.  I  asked 
to  be  taken  to  the  Commanding  General,  who  proved 
to  be  Stonewall  Jackson.  I  gave  the  Masonic  sign  of 
distress,  he  responded  and  I  was  released  and  sent 
back  to  our  lines.  This  telegram  of  General  Pope's 
was  a  sample  of  many  others  he  boastingly  sent. 

SECRETARY  SALMON  P.  CHASE  AND  TREASURY  RULES. 

One  day  during  Lincoln's  Administration  a  gentle 
man  from  New  York  called  on  me  for  professional 
service.  He  had  a  claim  for  clothing  furnished  the 
Army.  He  had  to  pay  notes  at  the  bank  that  very  day, 
and  unless  he  got  his  Treasury  draft,  he  would  be  in 


462  THE  PRESIDENTS  I  HAVE  KNOWN 

sore  trouble.  I  called  on  Mr.  Gonant,  warrant  clerk 
of  the  Treasury.  He  said,  "You  see  that  pile  of  war 
rants,  no  doubt  yours  is  among  them,  but  the  Secre 
tary  has  made  a  rule  not  to  take  them  out  of  turn." 
I  went  to  see  Secretary  Chase,  who  as  ever  was  most 
courteous.  I  told  him  what  I  wanted.  He  sent  for 
Mr.  Conant,  "Why,  Mr.  Conant,  can't  you  help  Mr. 
Wolf?"  "The  rules  prevent."  "Who  made  them?" 
"You,  Mr.  Secretary."  "Then  I  unmake  them  to  help 
Mr.  Wolf's  client,"  and  so  the  credit  of  the  New 
Yorker  was  saved.  A  lesson  for  lawyers  was  part  of 
this  incident.  My  friend  was  anxious  to  rush  off, 
stating  he  would  send  me  my  fee.  Mr.  W.  S.  Hunting- 
ton,  cashier  of  the  First  National  said  to  me,  "Let  him 
cash  his  draft  and  pay  you,  distance,  time  and  a  con 
venient  memory  may  be  disappointing."  New  Yorker 
demurred  but  finally  yielded. 

COMMODORE  INGRAM  AND  KOSTA. 

On  the  second  day  of  September,  1870,  fateful  day 
for  France,  I  was  summering  at  Oakland,  Maryland. 
Among  the  guests  was  Commodore  Ingram  of  South 
Carolina.  He  told  me  of  the  dramatic  incident  when 
an  Austrian  who  had  declared  his  citizenship  for  the 
United  States  being  arrested,  escaped  and  fled  for 
protection  on  his,  the  Commodore's  war  vessel.  The 
Austrian  Government  demanded  him.  Ingram  said, 
"Come  and  take  him,"  and  shotted  his  guns  for 
action.  They  did  not  come,  and  this  splendid  Ameri 
can  answer  brought  reputation  and  glory.  Congress 
voted  Ingram  a  medal,  of  which  I  have  a  replica.  It 
vindicated  for  all  time,  the  sanctity  of  asylum,  and 
that  wherever  the  flag  floats  is  protection  to  all  of 
our  citizens,  native  or  naturalized. 


HUMOROUS  INCIDENTS  463 

GEORGE  HARDING  AND  THE  KAATERSKILL  HOTEL. 
One  evening  at  the  above  hotel,  owned  and  man 
aged  by  George  Harding,  the  famous  patent  lawyer 
who  with  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton 
won  the  McGormick  Reaper  case.  Harding,  Justice 
Stephen  I.  Field,  General  Julius  Stahel  and  myself 
were  seated  in  Harding's  private  office.  He  was 
somewhat  dejected.  His  daughter  came  in,  seeing 
her  father's  condition,  she  asked  him,  "What  is  the 
matter?"  "Oh,  Belle,  I'm  almost  crazy,— Mr.  Gold 
stein  wants  one  thing,  Mr.  Blumenthal  another,  Mr. 
Jacobs  still  another."  Belle  responded,  "Why, 
father,  what  do  you  expect,  what  God  and  Moses 
could  not  do,  satisfy  the  children  of  Israel,  you  expect 
to  accomplish?"  Great  laughter,  and  we  took  an 
extra  snifter  and  drank  to  the  health  of  Miss  Harding. 

AN  ISLAND  EPISODE. 

Years  ago,  in  company  with  some  friends,  I  went 
for  a  week's  outing  to  an  Island  on  the  Potomac.  One 
day  a  terriffic  electrical  storm  broke  over  us.  It  lasted 
for  ten  hours.  The  proprietor  of  the  hotel  got  on  his 
knees,  praying  for  mercy.  Night  came  on  and  some 
of  us  retired  to  bed,  deeming  that  the  safest.  One 
member  of  our  party  had  a  wonderful  nose,  such  as 
Heine  so  graphically  describes,  "If  you  were  to  meet 
that  nose  on  a  dark  night  in  a  dense  forest  you  would 
feel  fear."  WTiile  the  lightning  was  most  vivid,  this 
good  man,  plus  the  nose,  came  out  of  his  bedroom  in 
his  "robe  de  nuit,"  and  in  a  stentorian  voice  said,  "I 
am  your  father's  ghost."  A  vivid  flash,  terrific  bolt, 
down  went  man  and  nose  with  the  words,  "Hear,  Oh, 
Israel,  I  am  dead." 


464  THE  PRESIDENTS  I  HAVE  KNOWN 

Pointe-a-Pic,  P.  Q.,  Canada, 

August  13,  1918. 
My  dear  Mr.  Wolf: 

I  thank  you  for  sending  me  your  book  on  "The 
Presidents  I  Have  Known."  It  is  full  of  most  interest 
ing  matter.  Your  personal  experience  with  the 
Presidents  whom  you  have  known  will,  I  am  sure,  be 
of  great  usefulness  to  the  historian.  The  correspond 
ence  which  you  publish  reflects  much  light  on  the 
struggle  of  the  Jewish  people  against  religious  preju 
dices.  It  is  one  thing  to  grant  in  a  constitution,  and 
in  the  forms  of  law,  the  fullest  recognition  of  re 
ligious  freedom,  and  it  is  another  thing  to  achieve 
complete  equality  of  opportunity  in  the  political, 
social  and  business  fields  of  activity,  unobstructed 
by  traditional  religious  prejudice.  You  have  been 
on  guard  for  your  people  in  Washington  through 
many  administrations,  and  it  must  be  a  source  of 
greatest  satisfaction  to  you  to  realize  how  much  you 
have  accomplished  in  bringing  to  the  attention  of  the 
Presidents  whom  you  have  known,  instances  of  offi 
cial  discrimination  based  on  religious  bigotry  and 
racial  prejudice,  which  the  Presidents  thus  informed 
have  been  able  to  condemn  and  remedy.  I  felicitate 
you  on  this  work  which  you  have  completed  after  you 
have  passed  your  eightieth  milestone. 

With  the  hope  that  you  may  continue  to  enjoy  your 
green,  useful  and  graceful  old  age  for  many  years, 
believe  me, 

Sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 


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